---
title: "Popular Dog Names and Breeds by City"
description: "The most popular dog names and breeds from official dog-license records across 4 cities, updated from open government data."
url: https://www.pawsitivid.com/dog-names
---

# The Dogs of America's Cities

This collection covers dog-license records from New York City, Seattle, Framingham and Cambridge, published by each city as open government data. Together, the 4 datasets list 44,457 distinct names between them, so a name repeated in more than one city is counted more than once. Bella leads: 7,551 of 686,595 licenses issued since 2016.

## At a glance

- **721,444** license records analyzed
- **4** cities covered
- **44,457** distinct names recorded

## Bella and Luna split the map

Bella leads in New York City and Framingham. Luna leads in Seattle and Cambridge.

## City reports

- [New York City](https://www.pawsitivid.com/dog-names/us/new-york) — 686,595 licenses issued since 2016. Licenses jumped 40% in 2020, the pandemic-adoption year.
- [Seattle](https://www.pawsitivid.com/dog-names/us/seattle) — 26,652 licensed dogs. Cats make up 32.7% of licensed pets, alongside dogs.
- [Framingham](https://www.pawsitivid.com/dog-names/us/framingham) — 4,376 licensed dogs. Black is the most common coat color, worn by 12.9% of licensed dogs.
- [Cambridge](https://www.pawsitivid.com/dog-names/us/cambridge) — 3,821 licensed dogs. North Cambridge leads with 610 licensed dogs.

## Sources & methodology

- New York City: [NYC Dog Licensing Dataset](https://data.cityofnewyork.us/Health/NYC-Dog-Licensing-Dataset/nu7n-tubp) — NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, NYC Open Data (public domain).
- Seattle: [Seattle Pet Licenses](https://data.seattle.gov/Community-and-Culture/Seattle-Pet-Licenses/jguv-t9rb) — Seattle Information Technology, Seattle Open Data (public domain).
- Framingham: [Licensed Dogs](https://data.framinghamma.gov/dataset/Licensed-Dogs/imhp-pzm8) — City of Framingham, Framingham Open Data.
- Cambridge: [Dogs of Cambridge](https://data.cambridgema.gov/Public-Safety/Dogs-of-Cambridge/sckh-3xyx) — City of Cambridge, Cambridge Open Data.

## For municipalities

City licensing data this clean is what the [PawsitivID platform](https://www.pawsitivid.com/platform) produces for municipalities.

## Common questions

**Which cities does this report cover?**

This report covers New York City, Seattle, Framingham and Cambridge, each drawn from that city's own official dog-license dataset.

**What is the most popular dog name across these cities?**

Bella leads in New York City and Framingham. Luna leads in Seattle and Cambridge.

**How many dog-license records does this report analyze?**

Together, these reports analyze 721,444 license records. New York City's total counts license issue events, so the same dog can appear more than once; the other cities count active licenses at a point in time.

**Where does this data come from?**

Each city's rankings come from that city's own open-data portal, published as official government data. Only anonymous aggregate totals are shown here; no individual license records are published.