The word “Bella” means “beautiful” in Italian and Spanish.
Bella is now the most popular dog name in Kansas, said a study conducted this year by U.S. News & World Report, which had also done a study in 2023 identifying the most popular dog names nationwide and in each state.
According to USA Today, Bella became one of the nation’s most popular dog names after a character with that name was the heroine in the “Twilight” book and movie series. Those first came out in 2005 and 2008, respectively.
A survey conducted this year by the American Pet Products Association concluded 68 million U.S. households have a dog.
Which dog names are most popular nationally?
Nationwide, the most popular dog name is Luna, followed in order by Bella, Charlie, Max and Daisy, said the U.S. News & World Report website.
The same names had been on the 2023 list, but in a different order.
The order that year, from first to fifth, had been Bella, Luna, Max, Daisy and Charlie.
Which dog names are most popular in Kansas?
Tied for second place after Bella as the most popular dog names in Kansas are Luna and Milo, U.S. News & World Report said.
Coming in right behind those names is a tie between Millie and Rocky, it said.
For states adjoining Kansas, the survey said the most popular dog names are as follows:
Bella in Missouri, followed by a tie between Buddy and Milo and a tie between Daisy, Lucy and Luna.
Max in Nebraska, followed by Bella”and then a tie between Lucy and Izzy.
Luna in Colorado, followed by Bella and then a tie between Bailey, Daisy and Lucy.
Lucy in Oklahoma, followed by Atlas and then a tie between Bella and Luna.
How was the study conducted?
A survey conducted this year by the American Pet Products Association concluded 68 million U.S. households have a dog.
U.S. News & World Report said it compiled its list of the most popular dog names using about “80,000 data points from a third-party pet insurance industry partner in March 2025, containing dog names registered from January 2020 to February 2025.”
The U.S. News & World Report article didn’t identify the insurance industry partner.
“The data points analyzed included dog names and state residences, which were filtered by state and ranked to show the most popular dog names in each state,” U.S. News & World Report said.
“This study did not consider names within the data set with various, similar spellings,” it added. “All spelling variations for the same name (e.g., Abby and Abbie) were counted and ranked as separate names.”
Contact Tim Hrenchir at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Here are the most popular dog names in Kansas and across the U.S.