The Dogs of San Francisco | 51,379 licensed dogs
SFACC · REGISTRY
The Dogs of San Francisco
51,379 licensed dogs<br>Jan 2017 – May 2026
San Francisco, by the dogs.
51,379 dogs
13,525 distinct names
412 breeds
26 neighborhoods
The registry over time
A decade of dogs
Every licensed dog, month by month. After a long slide from 2017, the<br>registry rebounded to a record 11,200 in 2025 . Licenses still<br>spike each spring, peaking in May 2025 .
Only licensed dogs are counted here; recent license coverage is roughly<br>1 in 6 to 1 in 8 of the estimated 120,000–150,000 dogs in<br>San Francisco. Useful sample, not a census.
Licenses issued monthly, 2017–2026. Spikes come when tags renew.
When the city licenses
Busiest in March, quietest in November.
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Dogs vs. babies
SF licenses more new dogs than babies
In 2025, San Francisco issued more first-time dog licenses than birth<br>certificates. Since many dogs go unlicensed, new dogs likely outnumber births by about<br>2 to 1 .
Estimated unlicensed (uncounted)<br>Licensed new dogs (counted)<br>SF births
New dogs, licensed and estimated unlicensed, vs SF resident births, 2020–2025. Hover any year for the split. CDPH.
Licensed dogs lead
SF issued 7,123 first-time dog licenses in 2025, more than the<br>~6,970 babies born that year.
Many still go uncounted
By 2025, licenses covered about 1 in 2 new dogs, up from<br>~1 in 4 earlier in the decade.
Estimate: ~10% yearly turnover applied to SF's estimated 120,000–150,000<br>dogs. That yields about 13,500 new dogs a year.
The names
Luna leads
San Franciscans register thousands of new dogs each year, and one name leads.<br>Charlie led in 2017. Luna took over in<br>2018 and has held #1 every year since 2020.
Rank of the top names by year. Lower is more popular.
The leaderboard
The 16 most common dog names in San Francisco, by count.
Split down the middle
The most evenly split names. Bars run male ◄ to ► female.
The fastest-moving names
Change per 1,000 named SF dogs, 2017 to 2025. Sparklines show the trend.
Names that come with a breed
Some names point to a breed: share of the name's dogs in its top breed, vs citywide.
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 one-offs.<br>Sir Archibald the Noodle is one (1) dog in San Francisco.
The neighborhoods
Every neighborhood has a signature breed
The city splits by breed. Chihuahuas lead in the<br>east and south; Labradors lead in the west and north. Signature<br>breed shows what is unusually common in each area. For names, Luna<br>leads nine neighborhoods, while Charlie takes the Inner Richmond,<br>Marina, and North Beach.
Hover or tap: most common breed.
Signature breeds
Ranked by how over-represented each is vs. the citywide rate.
The shift
The Chihuahua is losing its crown
The Chihuahua still leads, but its share is down more than a quarter since 2017.<br>Golden Retrievers , Poodles , and<br>French Bulldogs are climbing. The city is getting bigger and fluffier.
Each breed's share by year. Solid lines rise; dashed lines fall.
The fastest movers
Change in each breed's share, 2017–2025.
Purebred or mutt
Three in five are purebred
About 62% of licensed dogs have a single-breed label.<br>The rest are mixes, with familiar designer crosses near the top.
The designer-dog web: who crosses with whom.<br>Poodle is the hub of nearly every cross. Hover or tap a<br>breed to trace its ribbons.
Each ribbon is a two-breed cross; thicker means more dogs. Ordered by cross count.
The city's favorite crosses
Most common two-breed mixes among SF's mixed dogs.
Where the purebreds live
Purebreds lean north and west; mixes south and east.
The Marina is doodle country
Retriever × Poodle crosses (Golden- and Labradoodles) cluster in the Marina. Every neighborhood ranked by doodle density.
Share of each neighborhood's licensed dogs that are a Golden- or<br>Labradoodle. Dashed line marks the citywide average; bars run hot above it, cool below.<br>Neighborhoods with at least 150 licensed dogs.
The palette
A city of mostly black dogs
More than one in four licensed dogs is black. After black, white, and brown,<br>the coat list gets specific: brindle, merle, apricot, sable, and tricolor.
Primary coat color of all 51,379 dogs.
Every breed has a palette
Labs run black, Goldens gold, Frenchies everything.
The two-tone coats
Four in ten dogs wear two colors; black-and-white leads.
The dogs themselves
Past the puppy years, and almost all fixed
Few puppies make the registry. Most licensed dogs are adults, and nearly all<br>are fixed. Here is the population at a glance, plus the city's archetype.
Current age of licensed dogs
Recent licensed dogs with age on file, projected from first reported age. Not every registered dog.
The license itself
Most buy the cheap one-year tag; one in seven unaltered.
The most typical dog in San Francisco
Common traits, plus median known age.
The grand old...