What does a city look like, told by its dogs?
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The names
The reign of Luna
Every year San Franciscans register thousands of new dogs, and for most of the last decade one name has led. Charlie was #1 in 2017. Luna took the top spot in 2018 and has held it every year since 2020, widening her lead each year.
The leaderboard
The 16 most common dog names in San Francisco, by count.
The fastest-moving names
Out of every 1,000 named SF dogs, how many more or fewer carry each name in 2025 than in 2017. Sparklines show the trend.
Names that come with a breed
Some names are a near-giveaway. The share of each name's dogs that are its top breed, and how much likelier that is than the breed's citywide rate.
And then there are these
SF's funniest names, grouped by theme. Every count is real.
Every name above belongs to a real licensed dog. The one-offs are exactly that. Sir Archibald the Noodle is one (1) dog in San Francisco.
The neighborhoods
Every neighborhood has a signature breed
Color the city by its most common breed and a clean divide appears. The Chihuahua takes the east and south, the Labrador the west and north. The more telling number is each area's signature breed, the one most over-represented there versus the city as a whole. Flip the map to most popular name and the same split shows up. Luna leads nine neighborhoods, but she doesn't own the city. Charlie quietly takes the Richmond, the Marina, and North Beach.
The shift
The Chihuahua is losing its crown
For decades the Chihuahua was San Francisco's defining dog. It still leads, but its share has fallen by a third since 2017 while Golden Retrievers, Standard Poodles, and French Bulldogs climb fast. The city is trending bigger and fluffier.
Purebred or mutt
Three in five are purebred
San Francisco leans purebred. Roughly 62% of licensed dogs list a single breed. The rest are mixes, and the city's favorite crosses are exactly the designer dogs you'd guess.
The city's favorite crosses
Most common two-breed mixes among SF's mixed dogs.
Doodle country, and yes, it's the Marina
Retriever × Poodle crosses (Golden- and Labradoodles) pile up in the Marina. Every neighborhood ranked by doodle density, with Marina / Cow Hollow out front.
Share of each neighborhood's licensed dogs that are a Golden- or Labradoodle. Dashed line marks the citywide average; bars run hot above it, cool below. Neighborhoods with at least 150 licensed dogs.
The palette
A city of mostly black dogs
If you lined up every dog in San Francisco, more than one in four would be black. After the big three (black, white, brown), the coats get more interesting. Brindle, merle, apricot, sable, and the oddly specific "tricolor."
Every breed has a palette
Labs run black, Goldens run gold, Frenchies come in everything.
The dogs themselves
Older than you'd think, and almost all fixed
Licensed dogs skew older than most people guess, and the overwhelming majority are spayed or neutered. Below is the shape of the population, and the single most typical dog in the city.
Current age of every dog
Age carried forward to today, then weighted by each dog's odds of still being alive, so the bars estimate living dogs, not every dog ever licensed.
The license itself
Most owners buy the cheapest one-year tag; about one dog in eight is still unaltered.
The most typical dog in San Francisco
Take the single most common value for every trait and one dog emerges from the registry.
The registry over time
A decade of dogs
Month by month, the registry moves with two rhythms at once. The long trend drifts down from its 2017 peak through the late 2010s and the pandemic years, then rebounds hard to a record 11,200 in 2025. On top of that runs a sharp seasonal pulse, a spike most springs and a lull each late autumn, cresting in May 2025, the busiest month in the registry.
One in how many?
How rare is your dog?
Pick a breed, a coat color, and a neighborhood, and we'll estimate how many licensed dogs in San Francisco match, and whether yours is a common sight or a one-of-a-kind.
A modeled estimate over all 51,379 licensed dogs, so specific combinations are approximate, accurate to within a few dogs.
By the name
Look up any name
Type a dog's name to see how many share it across San Francisco, and what they tend to be.
Search a name to see how many dogs share it, and the breeds and neighborhoods they cluster in.
Meet their twin
Find your dog's twin, adoptable right now
Every dog in the charts above already has a home. These are still looking for one. Tell us your dog's breed and color and we'll match you with adoptable dogs in San Francisco who share them.
🐾 Donations and adoptions go directly to each shelter. We never collect or handle money. Every button links straight to the rescue that has the dog. Listings pull live from SF shelters and rescues, including SF Animal Care & Control, the SF SPCA, Rocket Dog Rescue, Family Dog Rescue, and Wonder Dog Rescue.
Pick a breed and we'll pull adoptable dogs in San Francisco that match. Newest listings first, with a link straight to the shelter.