Pet owners in 2025 are increasingly naming animals after literary characters, with names drawn from popular books among those trending nationwide. Coverage from Usatoday has highlighted this story.

The pattern, highlighted in reporting by Clare Mulroy of USA TODAY, reflects a wider turn toward book-inspired choices for companion animals and is grounded in data supplied by pet care company Rover for 2025.

Mulroy, listed as Books Reporter at USA TODAY, framed the trend as part of a broader cultural moment in which readers bring names from beloved narratives into their everyday lives. Rover provided the underlying data on trending pet names that the coverage cites; that information pointed to a notable increase in selections tied to specific contemporary and classic works of fiction. Reporting by Aol offers additional detail on this case.

Names taken from popular books were among those singled out as rising in popularity during 2025. The shift is visible across a range of owners and pet types, with literary references appearing alongside longer-standing, conventional choices.

Rover’s role in the reporting was to supply the metrics used to identify which literary names were gaining traction, and Mulroy used those figures to trace how certain characters and series filtered into pet-name lists. The connection between what people read and how they name animals shows up in everyday decisions, from informal introductions to social media posts.

Other outlets have also noted the phenomenon: coverage of book-based pet names has appeared beyond a single publication, including pieces on AOL that explore the most prominent examples and how cultural moments influence naming habits. As covered by Onalaskaanimalhospital, readers can explore more context around the event.

Observers point to several dynamics behind the shift. Readers who become attached to characters often seek a small, personal way to carry that attachment forward, and naming a pet provides a compact form of homage. At the same time, contemporary bestsellers and ongoing series produce recognizable names that circulate rapidly on social platforms and among fan communities.

The trend has practical implications for how owners introduce and socialize animals. Names tied to narratives can carry expectations and associations that influence how owners talk about their pets and how those animals are presented in photographs, profiles and local communities.

As the calendar moved through 2025, the pattern of literary-inspired pet names continued to register across data sets and media accounts, positioning books as a visible influence on pet culture alongside other pop-culture sources.

Source

Original reporting: view the original article.