What do 86 households in Nelson all have a common? They all own a dog called Bella, which has come out as the most popular dog name in the current Nelson City Council dog register.
Molly, Max, Poppy, and Ruby follow close behind, completing the top five line-up.
Among the list of 5455 pooches, food names appear to be popular, with Mango, Toast, Muffin, Sushi, Peanut and Honey all making appearances. Some have chosen to name their dogs after cars, such as Mazda, Porche and Chevy, while flower names are also proving to be popular, with Poppy, Jasmine, Daisy, Marigold, Violet, and Rose all making the list.
Interestingly, 1433 dogs in Nelson can claim to be ‘one of a kind,’ and it is these canines that own title to some of the more ‘unique’ names on the register. Moo Moo, Hiccup, Lucky Jelly, Mungbean and PuppyG are some of the more unusal names on the list, along with Yogi Bear, a 12 year old Huntaway owned by Katie Bennett-Coursey and her young family.
Katie says when Yogi Bear was born he was the first to come out of a litter of 13, which not all survived.
“He came out with big fat paws next to his face and was named Yogi Bear from the second he was born,” she says.
“I always think of him as being more bear than dog. I wasn’t supposed to be getting a dog, but after we had named him I couldn’t let him go to anyone else.”
Katie says they have got some strange reactions to his name.
“When we first registered him, the lady at the council asked if we were absolutely sure that’s what we really wanted to call him. Otherwise, people just presume he likes honey and picnic baskets.”
Over in the Tasman District, Bella, Ruby, Jess, Jack, Max and Sam are the top names for the region’s 10,300 dogs. Tasman District Council dog control administration officer Ross Connachie says not all owners give their dogs conventional names.
A glance down the list of this year’s registrations suggests some of the owners have gone barking mad, giving their dogs names like Stinky the Stoat, Richie McPaw and Didymo.
Dog registration officially closed on June 30.
