It has been quite a year for Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen. He won his first MVP award in February and got married to actress and musician Hailee Steinfeld in May. Now, it's time to add inspiration for trending sports-related cat names to his 2025 résumé.
"Josh Allen" was up 232% for sports-inspired cat names this year, according to a recent report by pet-sitting website Rover.
Allen is tied with "Jalen," seemingly after Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, and "Manning," presumably inspired by Texas quarterback Arch Manning -- and Peyton and Eli perhaps -- for the top spot.
"Luka," after Los Angeles Lakers superstar Luka Doncic, (up 51%) and "Marchy," inspired by Florida Panthers star Brad Marchand, (up 32%) followed on the list.
Sports-related dog names followed a similar trend, with "Arch" (up 181%) leading the way followed by "Josh Allen" (also up 181%). Other athletes in the top five to inspire dog names are Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley at third (up 81%), Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg (up 31%) slotted in at four and golfer Scottie Scheffler (up 22%).
New dog names include Barkley Saquon, Cee Dee Little Lamb (Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb) and Nacua (Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua). For cats, new names featured are Catrick Mahomes (Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes), Travis Kelce, Ja'Marr (Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase) and Scottie Scheffler.
This year, Rover also highlighted city-by-city trends for sports-inspired pet names.
Even though the Mavericks traded Doncic in a blockbuster in February, he still remains popular for Dallas cat owners -- "Luka" increased 139%.
Chicago showed love to Sky forward Angel Reese, with "Angel" leading the way in the Windy City for cat (up 243%) and dog (up 84%) names.
San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama saw massive gains as an inspiration for pet names last season. But the focus this year shifted toward the Spurs' legendary big three of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.
"Tony" (up 629%) and "Manu" (up 229%) led the way for dog names, while Duncan (up 239%) dominated for cats.
