Signs that You Are a Cat or Dog Lover and Popular Pet Names

People are typically divided into two main groups when it comes to pets. You have your dog lovers and then you have your cat lovers. Of course there is that other rare group of folks that fall into a category all of their own. This not so picky group will take in any stray that comes along, and this can include dogs, cats, reptiles, rodents, mammals, and barnyard animals.

One thing is for sure that includes all of these groups, people who love their animals have a tendency to treat them as if they were human. You see animals wearing sun glasses, coats, jeweled collars with personalized tags, bandanas, painted nails, bows, and clothing or shoes that match their owners own style and tastes. I have even witnessed people speaking to their animals as if language between man and beast were as ordinary as breathing.

Animals are popular in commercials, especially dogs and cats. Everything from a hound dog helping a cat find it's litter box to a dog teaching a pig to fly has become part of our entertainment during the break from our favorite shows. Talking animals have a way of touching our emotions because they are fun to watch. It almost gives us reason to believe that our own animals can perhaps one day pull off these same tricks. Many of the animals used in commercials have names that we easily recognize just from seeing them on a regular basis.

Jay Bush and "Duke" leave you with the feeling that Duke is actually smarter than his human owner. This talented Golden Retriever is definitely on a mission, and it's to sell the Bush's secret family recipe right under Jay's nose. Duke's antics have included herding sheep and other hilarious antics that make you fall in love with the naughty dog.

Dogs and cats are also popular in sitcoms and movies as is witnessed in everything from You've Got Mail and Full House to Air Bud and Homeward Bound. Their names were almost as adorable as the canine and feline actors themselves. Brinkley was Tom Hank's canine buddy, and Comet was the Golden Retriever seen frolicking with the Tanner family on Full House.

The Tuxedo cat "Fat Louie" makes a few brief appearances in the Princess Diaries as Princess Mia's beloved feline friend. Of course the cat will have to learn to speak Genovian as he becomes the royal cat of Genovia, finally achieving the high standards that cats appear to prefer.

Naming a new pet can be as hard as naming a new baby for the avid pet lover. When people name their pets it usually stems from something the pet has done or the way it looks. Other people prefer giving their animals human names since they consider them their new best friend and plan on carrying out extensive conversations with the animal anyway.

Easy choices for animal names can come from the animal's personality, whether it is an animal with a stubborn nature or one that likes to steal socks and chew them up. When I was a kid, my parents appropriately named our new Dachshund "Digger" after she succeeded in digging up the brand new linoleum in the laundry room. Other great animal names could include "Rebel" for marked stubbornness or "Cricket" for the animal that has a bug eating fetish. Animals that can out run speeding trains could fall under names like Lightning or Bullet. One thing is for sure, whether you are a cat or dog lover the pet's new name is of the utmost importance. Below is a guide to see which category you fall under.

Signs that you're a Cat Lover

When you talk about taking the cat to the V-E-T, you whisper it or spell it out so that your feline friend isn't offended.

You have more cat toys than clothes.

Your cat eats the most expensive cat food available, while you feast on macaroni and cheese, ramen noodles, and hot dogs.

Your cat sleeps in your bed more often than your spouse.

You cough up hairballs daily too.

Signs that you're a Dog Lover

You allow your dog to join you in your bubble bath, but not your significant other.

You share your popsicles, ice cream cones, and lollipops with your dog.

You refer to your dogs as your four-legged children.

You purchase a king sized bed so there is enough room for your dog to sleep comfortably too.

When house hunting, you only look at houses with huge fenced in yards so that your 100 lb "baby" has somewhere to play.

Your dog eats cat poop, but you still let her kiss you on the mouth.

Now that you have decided what group you fall into, it's time to decide on a name for the new addition.

Popular Dog Names

Males: Max, Buddy, Jake, Rocky, Bailey, Tramp, Buster, Cody, Charlie, Bear, Jack, Toby, Duke, Shadow, Lucky, Sam, Harley, Milo, Rusty, Murphy, Zeus, Riley, Oscar, Winston, Casey, Gizmo, and Bandit.

Females: Molly, Maggie, Daisy, Lucy, Bailey, Sadie, Ginger, Chloe, Sophie, Zoë, Princess, Bella, Angel, Lady, Sasha, Abby, Roxy, Missy, Brandy, Coco, Annie, Katie, Samantha, Casey, Gracie, Rosie, Misty, Emma, Sandy, and Heidi.

Big Dog Names

Moose, Shamu, Titan, Kong, Lurch, Brutus, Godzilla, Goliath, Grizzly, Rambo, and Marmaduke.

Small Dog Names

Baby, Tinkerbelle, Bug, Squeaky, Squirt, Peewee, Nipper, Jellybean, Munchkin, and Pixie.

Celebrities Dog's names

Sandra Bullock: Poppy
Mariah Carey: Jackson P. Mutley
Kevin Costner: Rosalita
Courtney Cox: Hopper & Hardy
Tom Cruise: Joseph
Lindsay Lohan: Chloe
Eva Longoria: Jinxy
Courtney Love: Lloyd
Madonna: Chiquita
Demi Moore: Louie
Mary Kate Olsen: Luca
Oprah: Arizona
Brad Pitt: Purty & Saudi
Renee Zellweger: Dylan
Drew Barrymore: Flossy

Popular Cat Names

Tiger, Tigger, Lady, Oscar, Sylvester, Misty, Max, Kitty, Smokey, Fluffy, Simba, Morris, Chester, Patches, Princess, Duchess, Snowball, Tom, Buster, Whiskers, Muffin, and Sneakers.

Celebrities who are Cat Lovers

Jay Leno, George W. Bush, Billy Crystal, Christina Ricci, Bo Derek, Linda Evans, Martha Stewart, Suzanne Somers, Victoria Principle, Warren Beatty, Whitney Houston, Joe Namath, Sally Jessie Raphael, Vivica A. Fox, Betty White, and Yoko Ono.

Famous Cats

Duchess: the elegant cartoon Persian cat created for Walt Disney's 1970 animated feature, The Aristocrats.

Garfield: The fat, lazy, lasagna eating cat was created by Jim Davis in 1978, and within four years, Garfield's comic strip was appearing in a thousand newspapers around the world.

Salem: The black cat from Sabrina the Teenage Witch who is smarter then his owners. This feline dishes out advice and is full of sarcasism.

Felix the Cat: Felix was the star of the first "talkie" cartoon.

Morris: The most famous cat in America was a fourteen pound orange tabby charmer who was rescued from a Chicago animal shelter. Morris became spokes-cat for Purina's 9 Lives cat food in 1969, and eventually became honorary director of Star-Kist Foods, with veto power over any cat food flavor he didn't like.

Socks: President Clinton's feline friend. Sock's is reputed to receive 75,000 letters and packages each week. In 1993 his diary, "Socks Goes to Washington", was published.

When Charles Dickens's cat, Williamina, produced a litter and insisted on moving into his study, Dickens decided not to keep the kittens, but relented over one small female who was allowed to stay. She became known as the Master's Cat. She immediately gained his attention by snuffing out his reading candle for him.

Tom: From Tom & Jerry cartoons. Tom is the opportunist cat that takes advantage of every situation while tormenting his little buddy Jerry.

Edgar Allen Poe's pet cat Catrina was the inspiration for his story 'The Black Cat'.