More peoplelike names attached to pets

They're not just Fluffy, Rover and Fido anymore.

As dog and cat ownership has expanded to nearly two out of three American households and spending on pet pampering products has exploded, San Francisco Bay Area residents have taken to giving their animals more human-sounding names -- such as Max, Lucy, Samantha, Charlie or, in the case of one San Francisco papillon spaniel, William III.

But the most commonly loved pet of all, according to a Chronicle review of more than 60,000 pet licenses, is a Labrador retriever named just plain Buddy. He lives in at least 89 different Bay Area homes, the data show.

The San Francisco Chronicle looked at animal license records from San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose to find the most popular pet names -- and the most perplexing.

The computer review showed that people are naming their pets like children. Seventeen out of the top 25 tags for dogs and cats are typical people names. Six pets were named Jennifer, seven Marcus and four Kevin.

Beagles are likely to be Bailey. Boxers often are Rocky. Dachshunds are Oscar. And Jack Russell terriers are, of course, Jack.

"That's been the trend for about 15 years, because nowadays pets are members of the family," said Lynn Spivak, who has worked as a San Francisco pet advocate for nearly two decades.

"Personally, I don't understand it," said Spivak, who first worked with the San Francisco Society for the Preservation of Animals and now is a part of Maddie's Fund, a new family foundation dedicated to saving the lives of shelter animals. "I like food names myself -- like Honey, Peaches and Cookie."

Cute, classic pet names seem more likely to go to cats -- Tiger, Tigger and, of course, Kitty. They also go to certain small dog breeds, like Lucky the Pomeranian and Princess the poodle. The ever-popular Chihuahua is likely to get stuck with such labels as Chico, Chiquita, Shorty and even Taco.

Then there are the wise guys. Twenty pets got dubbed Killer, including six Chihuahuas, three cats, a Pomeranian, a rat terrier and a dachshund.

The number of American households that own pets has jumped from 56 percent in 1988 to 63 percent in 2006, according to a survey by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association. But spending on pets has more than doubled since 1994 -- to more than $40 billion a year, according to the survey.

"A lot of this is being driven by Baby Boomers whose kids have gone off to college -- they're looking for something to dote upon," said Bob Vitere, president of the association, who said he has seen an amazing array of luxurious pet products and services emerge, from cell phones that allow you to call your pet over a collar speaker phone to companies that will scoop up the poop in your back yard.

There this week, a Pomeranian named Lulu traded sniffs at a Bay Area dog park with a Hungarian vizsla, whose owner had dubbed him Jackson. Meanwhile, a shaggy mix named Sweet Jimmy playfully nabbed a ball that had been dropped.

"Jimmy, sweetheart, that's not yours," called out doggy "dad" Michael Valladares of Albany, who admits he's one of those childless dog lovers who treats his pet just like a kid.

"He was named Noodle when we got him, but it wasn't long before we knew that Noodle wouldn't do," said Valladares, 38, a graphic designer.

Betty Fong, 46, of El Sobrante looked on this scene from a nearby cafe, where humans can grab a mocha for themselves and a doggy ice cream for their pups. She admitted she sometimes finds it confusing.

"When you hear people calling out these names, sometimes you wonder whether they're calling their dog or their child," she said.