Bela appears 68 times at rank 1,527 on female pets — a name that arrives with multiple cultural reference points depending on which direction you're looking. It can be Bella spelled differently, or it can be Bela Lugosi, or it can be the Hungarian name meaning "heart." Each reading produces a different dog.
The Bella Variant Reading
Most of the 68 registry records are probably owners who wanted Bella but landed on Bela — either as a deliberate stylistic distinction or as a phonetic approximation. This matters because Bella is the most popular pet name in the country for female dogs. Bela gives owners the same warm vowel sound and the similar feel without the ubiquity. For owners who find out their name choice is also their neighbor's dog's name, Bela is a one-letter fix.
Lugosi's Ghost
Bela Lugosi's Dracula performance created an indelible association that some owners are clearly playing into. A black cat named Bela is making a very specific joke. The horror-fan owner demographic accounts for a meaningful slice of this name's registry presence, particularly for cats. Black cats and dark-coated dogs get this name with notable frequency.
Stand-Alone Viability
Outside the Bella-variant and Lugosi readings, Bela functions as a genuine standalone name with Hungarian roots meaning beautiful or noble. The human name at /names/bela shows modest SSA usage. On a pet, the three-letter compactness makes it readable and distinctive regardless of which reference point the owner had in mind.