Andy ranks at #272 with 417 entries, an honest short-form that has held its place on pet charts for decades while the longer Andrew has waxed and waned on baby charts. The two-syllable casual register is exactly what most pet owners are after.
The short-form preference
Pet naming consistently favors short forms over full forms — Tommy over Thomas, Charlie over Charles, Andy over Andrew. The pattern is simple: owners pick the name they will actually call across a yard, not the formal version. Andy clusters with Charlie, Tommy, and Billy in the casual-male register that has dominated mid-rank male pet names for generations.
Sound and breed fit
The two-syllable shape (AN-dee) has a hard front consonant and a sing-out ending — close to ideal for outdoor recall. Andy lands across breeds without strong preferences, which is typical of generic short-male-names: Labradors, Beagles, mixed breeds, and small terriers all carry it at similar rates. The name does not over-index on any specific breed cluster.
The Toy Story counter-reading
One reading worth flagging: Toy Story's Andy (the boy who owns Woody and Buzz) gives the name a specific generational anchor for owners who grew up on that franchise. That reading is rarely the primary motivation, but it can be a tiebreaker. The Andy baby name page shows the short form has been declining on the SSA chart since the 1970s.