AT TOP OF OF NYC’S DOG PILE
Gotham’s most pupular names revealed
Good Bella! Bad Max! Don’t be surprised if you hear those words at your local dog run — Bella and Max are the Big Apple’s most popular dog names, city data reveals.
There are 5,508 pet pooches named Bella and 4,930 named Max registered with the city Health Department, according to the dog-license data obtained by The Post through a Freedom of Information Law request.
Steven McCasland, 35, an out-ofwork theater audition coach on the Upper West Side, is smitten with his Max, a 10-year-old Brittany spaniel he adopted from the city’s Animal Care Centers a few years ago.
“He is just the sweetest, smartest, loveliest dog. Very loyal. Goes everywhere with me. Sleeps on the bed next to me with his head on the pillow,” he said.
Manisha Shah, 40, a productmanagement director for Salesforce in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, is fostering a Bella.
“Bella lost her home during the pandemic due to financial stress faced by her family,” she said of the 7-year-old mix, who is up for adoption through Mr. Bones & Co., a nonprofit rescue.
“My own dog had passed away in December, and I decided to take a ‘long timer,’ as we call them, home with me,” she said.
“She’s funny and affectionate, and so smart. She surprises me every day with how well she’s responded to training, and it’s been pure joy watching her learn and grow.”
By borough, Bella and Max are the top two dog names in Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx and Staten Island. But in Manhattan, Charlie and Lucy reign as the top two canine monikers.
The city’s most popular breed is the Pomeranian, of which there are 9,287, followed by a fellow lap dog, the Havanese, with 8,606.
Some city dog owners are a bit more original, christening their canines with unique names such as A-Rod, a miniature pinscher in Rockaway Park, Queens; Megabyte, a Great Dane on the Upper West Side; Detox, a Labrador retriever on the Lower East Side; and Crack, a pit bull in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.