F is one of the least used letters in this catalogue: 410 names averaging 58 registrations each, well under the catalogue figure. And a striking share of what use it does get belongs to one name in three spellings — Frankie, Frank and Franklin, which between them outweigh everything else at the top of the list.
What is left once you set Frankie aside
Fiona, Fluffy, Frida, Foxy. The letter's real character is descriptive rather than personal: it names the coat, the manner or the animal it reminds you of. 101 of it classifies soft-sounding, which is what an F followed by a liquid consonant produces.
A quiet opening
F is a fricative — air rather than a stop. It does not cut through a room the way a B or a K does, and if you are choosing a name to call across distance that is the practical argument against this letter. 89 of these are single syllables, which is where the letter puts up its best fight: Fred, Frank, Fox.
The upside of being unused
A thin letter is an uncrowded one. At 58 registrations per name you are far less likely to meet your own choice at the park than you would be from a letter twice its size, and the names themselves are not obscure — they are simply less chosen.
What are good pet names starting with F?
Frankie leads the list by a distance, then Fiona, Fluffy, Frida and Foxy. Ordering is by how many animals carry each name across eleven registers.
Are F names uncommon?
Comparatively, yes: 410 names at 58 registrations each, both below what a letter this size would suggest. That makes them a good place to look for something uncrowded.
Do F names carry well outdoors?
Less well than a plosive. F is a fricative, which is air rather than a stop, so it does not cut through noise — the single-syllable ones like Fred and Fox are the letter's strongest option there.
Every count on this site is a tally of real registrations: pet licences and shelter intakes published as open data by New York, Seattle, Austin, Montgomery County, Cambridge, Zurich, Basel and four Australian councils. Popularity here is the average share a name holds across those registers, so a name common in a small city is not buried by one common in a large one. Five of the eleven registers are North American and they supply 86% of the records, so read the ordering as naming in those places rather than worldwide. Browse the whole catalogue or read how the data is put together.