People are Naming Their Dogs and Cats After Marvel Characters

Now that 2019 is coming to a close, the Internet is full of “Best of” lists and wrap-ups from the final year of the decade. One round-up item that might surprise you is the year in pet names. Fox News recently shared an annual study from Rover.com, which revealed the country’s most popular pet names of the year. 2019 was a big one for naming pets after characters in film and television, especially of the superhero variety. The site listed the top ten superhero names for pets of the year, and some of the answers might surprise you:

First is Harley, presumably after DC’s Harley Quinn, who is currently being played by Margot Robbie. Second is Loki, Tom Hiddleston’s character in there Marvel Cinematic Universe. Third on the list is Thor after Chris Hemsworth’s character in the MCU. Fourth we have Flash, the character played by Grant Gustin in the Arrowverse and Ezra Miller in the DC Extended Universe. Coming in at number five is May, presumably after Aunt May, who is played by Marisa Tomei in the MCU and voiced by Lily Tomlin in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. However, we’d like to think some folks chose to name their pets after Ming-Na Wen’s Agents of SHIELD character, Agent Melinda May.

In sixth place is Drax, Dave Bautista’s Guardians of the Galaxy character and seven is Ronan, presumably after Lee Pace’s Guardians of the Galaxy character. In eighth place is Valkyrie, Tessa Thompson’s character from Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Endgame. At number nine we have Mary Jane. While Zendaya plays MJ in the MCU, her version of the character is named Michelle. Many actors have portrayed Spider-Man’s love interest over the years, but she was most recently voiced by Zoë Kravitz in Spider-Verse. Finally, rounding out the list at number ten is Stan, which we can only assume is a tribute to the late, great Stan Lee.

The article included some more interesting facts about pet names in 2019:

“Genie is up thanks to the Aladdin reboot, while Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and Slinky Dog (new this year!) were on the rise due to Toy Story 4. Superheroes are especially big for dogs! Okoye is up 250%, Nebula is up 163%, and Black Widow is up 100%. Villains find their way onto the list, too, with Sauron and Bellatrix both up 200%, followed by Thanos and Tywin.”

Are any of your pets named after superheroes? Tell us in the comments!