Is Your Pooch A Mandy Or A Mabel?
NYC Health, the agency that provides dog licenses to New York City dog owners, released a fascinating map illustrating unique dog names by neighborhood.
The 2016-Unique Dog Names map shows pooch names that are significantly more popular in a particular area than they are elsewhere in the city—i.e. Theodore is pretty popular in Morningside Heights but not so much overall.
Some of the usual pup names pop up on the map, such as Prince, King, Fluffy, and Scruffy, but many of the monikers may surprise you.
Mabel ranks number 9 in Carroll Gardens/Columbia Street/Red Hook AND number 12 in Park Slope/Gowanus. I have never met a human named Mabel, never mind a dog!
Linda is another surprisingly pup-ular female dog name, ranking 10 in Sheepshead Bay/Gerritsen Beach/Manhattan Beach while also scoring high in Jackson Heights and Richmond Hill, Queens.
Mandy is big in Madison, Brooklyn; Bayside, Queens; Rossville/Woodrow, Staten Island; Clinton (midtown west); and in north Washington Heights. Perhaps these dog parents are Barry Manilow fans?
The old-timey Nellie seems to be making a comeback (in canine name anyway) in Bay Ridge; Bellrose and East Flushing, Queens; and the Upper East Side.
Charlotte comes in at number 4 in Kensington/Ocean Parkway, while Fort Greene favors the grampa-ish Harvey.
Bensonhurst dog owners prefer the optimistic Happy on the west and Heidi on the east.
Sunset Park West residents like Chico, while those in Sunset Park East prefer Theo.
While not a fan of Precious or Princess, it’s surprising to see how many bland people names New Yorkers are christening their fur babies.
