New | Hong Kong’s top 10 dog names and breeds revealed
BB is top dog among Hong Kong pet owners, who have a soft spot for a cute name, while the poodle is king among breeds
Leave Fido, Bingo or Lassie at the door - Hong Kong’s most popular dog name is BB, a colloquial version of “baby”.
This was followed by Mo Mo and Coffee.
Stephanie Siu, a 23-year-old student, said she had no idea that BB, her 12-year-old Maltese, had the most common name until she was told.
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“My mum named him,” she said. ‘Originally my sister and I wanted to name him after a dim sum name, but my mum insisted because she thought BB sounds more personalised, so he’s part of the family.”
Siu said there was no doubt Hongkongers liked to pick “cutesy” names for their pets.
“Sometimes it’s like Bobo or any double syllable name, so it sounds more cute,” she said.
Fiona Woodhouse, deputy director of welfare at the Society for the Protection and Care of Animals, said up to 4,000 dogs named BB had come through its doors, including variations such as B B, Be Be and BeBe.
Other popular names were Dou Dou, Bo Bo, Lucky and Mei Mei.
As for breeds, the poodle is king, followed by mongrels, the ever-popular Pomeranian,
schnauzers, chihuahuas and the chow.
In February 2014 the government said there were about 247,000 dogs in Hong Kong. By September 2015, at least another 110,000 dog licences had been issued or renewed.
Although dog ownership was rising, the numbers were not unsustainable, said Woodhouse.
‘There are many positive aspects related to dog ownership, from things like health benefits, walking your dog, to psychological benefits, like social benefits and empathy,” she said.
“What we’re more concerned about is that we’re still on the back foot in terms of access to public open spaces with dogs.”
