YOU are more likely to hear calls for ‘Molly’ and ‘Hugo’ in parks in the North West, than you are in many other areas of the UK, a survey of the most popular dog names has revealed.

Data released by Agria Pet Insurance for the Kennel Club’s Eukanuba Discover Dogs event at ExCeL London later this month, shows a wide variation in the dog names that are popular in different parts of the UK.

Two of top ten most popular dog names in the North West fail to appear in the UK’s overall top ten – Molly and Hugo, which are at numbers seven and ten respectively. Hugo only appears in the top ten in one other place in the UK - Scotland.

Buddy and Max, which are the ninth and tenth most popular dog names in the UK are shunned completely from the North West’s top ten.

The five most popular names in the North West are Bella, Poppy, Lola, Ruby and Teddy – similar to the rest of the UK, with the exception of Teddy, which appears at number six nationally, with Luna coming in at number five instead.

The top ten dog names in the North West are:

• Bella

• Lola

• Poppy

• Ruby

• Teddy

• Alfie

• Molly

• Daisy

• Luna

• Hugo

Caroline Kisko, spokesperson for the Kennel Club’s Eukanuba Discover Dogs event, said: “There is a wide variation in the dog names that are popular in different parts of the UK. Dogs are part of the family, so our choice of dog name is very personal and our recent research has indicated that almost one in five people spend more than two hours on the choice.

"However, people need to give a lot of consideration to the right breed for their lifestyle as well and sadly some people are spending less time on this than choosing their dog’s name. Whilst 5 percent choose their dog’s name on impulse, 23 percent select a breed on impulse.”