Luna and Max top names at shelters

Though the San Diego Humane Society’s shelter animals come in all different shapes and sizes, many share one common characteristic: their names.

Luna for females and Max for males, to be precise. Those were the most popular names for pets at their four campuses in 2023, according to officials.

Bella and Daisy were also in the top three for girls and Milo and Zeus rounded out the top three for the boys. There were more than 100 of each of the top three names for either sex except for Zeus, a name given to 83 male animals this year.

The names — tallied among the near 32,000 animals that came through the shelter’s doors this year — largely followed previous year’s patterns. Luna and Max had been the most popular pet names in 2022 and in the top five in years before that, according to Nina Thompson, a spokesperson for the organization. This, in part, is due to some animals having been housed by the organization for more than a year.

For instance, Thompson said a dog named Luna Mae has been with the organization for more than 700 days, and another dog named Daisy for more than 400 days.

In order to help these animals, as well as the more than 450 total pets currently available for adoption at local shelters, the Humane Society announced it would be reducing adoption fees for dogs 7 months and older to $24 through today. Adoption fees for active military members, families and veterans will be waived entirely.

“It’s incredibly important for us to raise awareness about the many wonderful pets we have in our care who deserve a second chance,” Thompson said. “We really hope our community will choose to adopt — or foster — to make an animal’s life better.”

To learn more about how to adopt a pet, visit sdhumane.org.

Luna Mae has been up for adoption for over 700 days.