It's 'twilight' time for naming animals.

• Position: Your Life - Pet names - Brief article

Call it the "Twilight" effect: Bella has retained its position as the most popular dog name for the second year in a row, and surpassed Chloe to assume the second most popular name for cats. Veterinary Pet Insurance Co., Brea. Calif., sorted through its database of more than 485,000 pets to determine the most popular names.

In addition to the top 10 dog and cat monikers, VPI, for the first time, has included top 10 exotic pet names in its annual analysis. Although Charlie may have ranked lower for dogs (ninth) and cats (10th)last year, the name takes the top spot for birds, lizards, gerbils, rabbits, and other assorted exotic pets.

The favorite names for dogs are Bella, Bailey, Max, Lucy, Molly, Buddy. Maggie, Daisy, Charlie, and Sophie. Cats. meanwhile, are most likely to be called Max, Bella, Chloe, Oliver, Lucy. Smokey. Shadow, Tiger. Tigger, and Charlie. As for exotics, listen for Charlie, Baby, Sunny. Jack, Kiwi, Bandit. Bella, Max, Sammy, and Gizmo.

Of the nearly half a million pets insured by VPI, only 13 were called Fido, reflecting the...