Alfie ranks at #162 with 651 entries, and the name carries a distinctly British register that has slowly migrated into American pet naming over the past decade. It is one of those names where the cultural texture arrives intact — Alfie always sounds like a small, curly-haired dog, even before you meet one.
The British pet-name pipeline
Alfie has been a top-tier UK pet name and baby name for years, and the spillover into US pet registries follows the same path that brought Winston and Oliver across earlier. American owners who pick Alfie are usually doing it for the friendly, slightly retro sound rather than for any specific cultural anchor — the 1966 Michael Caine film and the 2004 Jude Law remake are real but rarely the reason.
One counter-reading: Alfie also reads as the diminutive of Alfred, which gives it a quieter, more old-fashioned register if owners want to lean that direction. The formal version sits on the Alfred baby name page, though Alfie is increasingly used as a standalone given name on both sides of the Atlantic, particularly among younger pet adopters who treat it as a complete name rather than a nickname.
The breed lean toward small companions
Names with -ie endings tend to cluster on small dogs and cats, and Alfie follows the pattern closely. Cavaliers, Cavapoos, and small terriers carry the name well, partly because the soft ending matches their scale and partly because the British register implies a small, well-mannered dog by default. The same diminutive sound shapes Charlie and Ollie, which is why those three names often appear together on shortlists.