Hot Diggety!

Most popular dog names in Dallas for 2017 are doggone adorable

Rover.com has rolled out a list of the top dog names across the U.S. for 2017.

Mutts Canine Cantina/Facebook

Gone are the days when Spot and Fido were the most popular names at the dog park. According Rover.com, a national network of pet sitters and dog walkers, Dallas is in sync with the rest of the nation when it comes to the most popular male and female dogs names for 2017, with Max and Bella coming in at No. 1, both locally and in the U.S.

For male pups in Dallas, Charlie (No. 2) and Buddy (No. 3) finish out the top three. Cooper (4), Jack (5), Bentley (6), Bear (7), Rocky (8), Tucker (9), and Duke (10) round out the list.

For female dogs, Lucy and Daisy are Nos. 2 and 3, respectively. Next up are Sadie (4), Molly (5), Bailey (6), Lola (7), Maggie (8), Chloe (9), and Zoey (No. 10).

While not in the top 10, Rover.com says Dallasites are showing hometown love with the names Dallas and Texas trending. The Big D is home to a lot of Walker, Texas Ranger fans with monikers Chuck Norris and Walker also popular in 2017. Football names, including Dak, as in Cowboys star quarterback Dak Prescott, are also on the rise, as are patriotic names like Star, Hope, and Liberty.

From coast to coast, Max (No. 1), Charlie (No. 2), and Cooper (No. 3) for males, along with Bella (No. 1), Lucy (No. 2), and Daisy (No. 3) for females, top the list. Across the nation, dog names dominating 2017 parallel the top baby names for 2017, with human-inspired names making up a whopping 44 percent of all dog names this year, up 57 percent from 2016.

Owners are also taking a nod from powerful women with Oprah, Madonna, and Katniss all up and coming. And 8 percent of all dog names are pop culture-influenced. Barb, a character in the Netflix series Stranger Things, saw an increase of 182 percent, while Star Wars-related names like Rey and Finn went up a notable 70 percent.

Food and political names trended down this year, but new sources of inspiration include newsmakers like Wonder Woman; Taylor Swift; and DoggoLingo, an internet-based dialect and nonofficial language of dog lovers everywhere.

pets trends

let loose dallas

Dallas earns a slot on new list of America's most fun cities

Photo by Mark Patterson on Unsplash

Dallas is a fun place to be, the study says.

Dallas' fun entertainment and nightlife scenes have helped the city improve in WalletHub's just-released ranking of the most fun American cities in 2025. Dallas now stands tall as the 26th most fun U.S. city this year.

WalletHub's "Most Fun Cities in America (2025)" study compared 182 U.S. cities across 65 metrics — spanning from the number of sports venues, music venues, and shopping centers per capita to the average cost for a restaurant meal — to determine how "fun" each city is. The metrics were split among three main categories: entertainment and recreation, nightlife and parties, and cost.

Las Vegas, Nevada continued its multi-year streak as the No. 1 most fun American city.

Across the three key dimensions, Dallas scored the highest for its nightlife and parties rank (No. 23), but its entertainment and recreation ranks (No. 35) and costs (No. 99) still have room for improvement. But overall, Dallas' level of "fun" is far higher than most U.S. cities.

Dallas' current "fun" status is five places higher than its 2024 rank as the No. 31 most fun American city.

Elsewhere in North Texas, Fort Worth ranked as the 60th most fun American city, while Arlington (No. 71) and Plano (No. 78) lagged farther behind.

Texas' most fun cities
Houston overtook Austin as the 6th most fun city in America and the No. 1 most fun Texas city for 2025. Austin, which ranked No. 6 last year, dropped two spots and now ranks No. 8 on the list.

Three more Texas cities that appeared in the top 100 include: San Antonio (No. 23), El Paso (No. 62), and Corpus Christi (No. 94).

"The decision of where to live could save or cost you a lot of money and fun, so it’s fair to wonder what makes a fun city," the report's author wrote. "In a city with enough variety, you won’t have to compromise with your friends, family, or even yourself about the next fun activity to do alone or together."

Surprisingly, both Chicago and New York City dropped out of the top 10 most fun American cities. Chicago now ranks as No. 11, and New York City ranks 14th on the list.

WalletHub's top 10 most fun U.S. cities in 2025 are:

No. 1 – Las Vegas, Nevada
No. 2 – Orlando, Florida
No. 3 – Miami, Florida
No. 4 – Atlanta, Georgia
No. 5 – New Orleans, Louisiana
No. 6 – Houston, Texas
No. 7 – San Francisco, California
No. 8 – Austin, Texas
No. 9 – Portland, Oregon
No. 10 – Cincinnati, Ohio

rankings wallethub dallas