Would you name your dog after the brooding, vengeance-seeking Heathcliff from"Wuthering Heights"? How about christening your beagle Smeagol? Or what about a kitty called "Katniss Meowerdeen"?
Booklovers are giving their pets names straight out of a novel, andromantasieslike"A Court of Thorns and Roses"and"Fourth Wing"were popular inspiration this year. Pet care service companyRoveralso found classic names like Atticus Finch and Sherlock Holmes were "in" for pet owners.
Here are the top trending pet literature names of 2025, which Rover shared exclusively with USA TODAY.
Top bookish dog names trending in 2025
1. Tairn (tie):From "Fourth Wing," up 231%
1. Ridoc (tie): From "Fourth Wing," up 231%
3. Ron Weasley: From "Harry Potter," up 198%
4. Sybil (tie):From "The Correspondent," up 131%
4. Mor (tie):From "A Court of Thorns and Roses," up 131%
6. Atticus Finch:From "To Kill a Mockingbird," up 91%
7. Hai(tie):From "The Emperor of Gladness," up 81%
7. Heathcliff (tie):From "Wuthering Heights," up 81%
9. Xaden:From "Fourth Wing," up 71%
10. Rhysand (tie):From "A Court of Thorns and Roses," up 64%
10. Smeagol (tie):From "Lord of the Rings," up 64%
Top bookish cat names trending in 2025
1. Xaden (tie):From "Fourth Wing," up 532%
1. Calloway (tie):From "The Housemaid," up 532%
3. Zelda Fitzgerald (tie):Novelist and wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald, up 332%
3. Orly (tie):From "Wild Dark Shore," up 332%
5. Sherlock Holmes:From "Sherlock Holmes," up 282%
6. Harlan:After mystery writer Harlan Coben, up 199%
7. Atticus Finch:From "To Kill a Mockingbird," up 107%
8. Harry Potter:From "Harry Potter," up 99%
9. Stilgar (tie):From "Dune," up 82%
9. Katniss Everdeen (tie):From "The Hunger Games," up 82%
Pet owners not ready to let go of favorite romantasy characters
Sometimes the only way to soothe the pain of leaving your book boyfriend on the page is naming your furry friend after him. Following thesmash release of "Onyx Storm"earlier this year,"Fourth Wing" fansincreasingly named their pets after characters like Xaden (up 532% for cats and 71% for dogs), Tairn (up 231% for dogs and 49% for cats), Ridoc (up 231% for dogs) and Imogen (up 45% for dogs and 32% for cats).
"A Court of Thorns and Roses" also drove trending pet names this year, with popular choices being Rhysand (up 64% for dogs), Cassian (up 37% for dogs), Nesta (up 25% for dogs and 35% for cats) and Mor (up 131% for dogs).
Pet owners choose names from beloved 'Hunger Games,' 'Harry Potter,' 'Lord of the Rings'
"Sunrise on the Reaping"caused a major"Hunger Games" resurgencefor dystopian fans this year, and the proof is in the pudding – Abernathy, after the prequel's protagonist Haymitch, is up 31% for dogs this year, according to Rover. The punny cat name Katniss Meowerdeen also made Rover's trending list for the first time.
"Harry Potter,"soon to be anew HBO series, also won in pet lovers' hearts. They named their pooches Ron Weasley (up 198%) and their cats Harry Potter (up 99%), and Dumbledore and Severus Snape were also on the rise as pet names.
And who could forget "Lord of the Rings"? Smeagol was up 64% in 2025 for dog names, and pet lovers got punny with Bilbo Puggins (up 31%), Bilbo Waggins (up 20%) and Frodo Waggins (up 31%).
We haven't forgotten "Game of Thrones" and"House of the Dragon"fans – Aegon Targaryen made Rover's list of trending cat names for the first time this year.
English literature nerds turn to classic novels for pet names
We love a good old-fashioned name, and in this case we mean one after classics like "Gone With the Wind," (Scarlett O'Hara was up 31% for dogs and 32% for cats) and "Great Expectations" (Pip was up 11% for dogs this year).
Pet owners increasingly named their cats Offred from"The Handmaid's Tale"this year and christened their grumpy dogs Scrooge (up 31%). "To Kill a Mockingbird" proved another favorite, with Atticus Finch up 91% for dog names and 107% for cats. Want to get more creative? Try "Catticus Finch," up 82% this year.
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Clare Mulroy is USA TODAY's Books Reporter, where she covers buzzy releases, chats with authors and dives into the culture of reading. Find heron Instagram, subscribe to our weeklyBooks newsletteror tell her what you're reading atcmulroy@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Top 10 dog and cat names based on book characters trending in 2025
