It turns out that HBO’s fantasy series Game of Thrones was not just one of the most popular programs on television, but also a big inspiration to pet owners.
Banfield Pet Hospital, the largest veterinary practice in the United States, recently decided to go through their database of more than 3 million dogs and cats treated at their hospitals in the past year and discovered some interesting trends. It turns out that pet owners like to name their pets after Game of Thrones characters, both animal and human ones.
After crunching the numbers, Banfield Pet Hospital revealed the most popular GoT names in the animal community, so let’s check them out.
Lady
While there can be lots of different inspirations for this name, our money is that people had Sansa Stark’s direwolf Lady in their mind when choosing the name.
Ghost, Nymeria, and Summer
Beside Lady, the names of Jon Snow, Arya, and Brann’s direwolves – Ghost, Nymeria, and Summer – are also very popular and becoming more so each year. According to Banfield Pet Hospital’s data, “23 percent more dogs were named Nymeria, 12 percent more were named Ghost, and 7 percent more were named Summer” in 2018 compared to 2017.
Snow
People are also gladly using Jon Snow’s last name as a pet name for their cats and dogs. It turns out that compared to 2017, 22 percent more cats and 14 percent more dogs were named Snow in 2018.
Arya
The youngest daughter of Ned Stark also has a lot of fans among pet owners, who are naming their pets, especially cats, Arya at an increasing rate.
Khaleesi
Considering that Daenerys had so many names and titles – Khaleesi, Mother of Dragons, Protector of the Realm, Breaker of Chain, etc.- we guess one of them had to catch on.
Winter
Might not be directly inspired by Game of Thrones, but winter is a big part of the show, so it makes sense, right?
Sansa
Considering that Sansa means “praise and charm,” we think this might be a really appropriate name for almost any pet, and Banfield Pet Hospital’s clients agree.
Cersei
While she might be one of the biggest villains on the show, Cersei definitely has its fans and their number is rising. The number of cats who share the name with Cersei jumped to 25 percent in 2018.
Drogon
Daenerys’ mighty dragon is especially popular among dog owners. According to Banfield Pet Hospital, it is the highest-rising GoT-inspired name since 64 percent more doggos were named Drogon in 2018 than in 2017.
