Chubby sits at rank 1765 with 57 records, leaning male. As a pet name, it sits firmly in the affectionate-descriptor tradition: the category of names that function as running jokes about the animal's appearance or personality, used with genuine fondness. Chubby as a registered name is worth examining: it's almost certainly a paperwork artifact in several of these cases, an owner transcribing a household nickname onto an official form without thinking twice.
The Affectionate Descriptor Tradition
Pets with names like Chubby, Pudge, Tubbs, or Fatcat belong to a specific owner-type segment: people who find their animal's physicality charming rather than something to politely ignore. It's a naming logic closer to Freckles or Patches than to Max or Bella; purely descriptive, affectionate rather than aspirational. Cats receive this treatment more often than dogs, and among cats, Persians, British Shorthairs, and other round-faced breeds are particularly likely to end up with affectionate bulk-descriptors. Browse British Shorthair names for the register this name inhabits.
Sound Fit
Two syllables, CHUB-ee, with a blunt opening consonant and a soft landing. The name is easy to say, carries well, and is impossible to mispronounce. Its informality is absolute — there's no formal version to fall back on for vet paperwork, which means the animal presents as Chubby in every institutional context. That's either charmingly consistent or mildly awkward, depending on the situation.
The Counter-Reading
Chubby is a commitment. Unlike Bluey or Campbell, it doesn't have a formal register to retreat to. If the animal slims down — which young animals often do — the name becomes retroactively ironic. Browse other affectionate descriptor names if you want this energy with more flexibility built in.