Edison appears 58 times in the registries at rank 1742, strongly male. The surname of Thomas Edison — the inventor of the phonograph, the practical incandescent light bulb, and a framework for the modern research laboratory — has crossed into first-name and pet-name use as part of the broader surname-as-given-name trend. The light bulb association is so strong it's almost impossible to separate from the name.
The Inventor Surname Register
Edison joins Tesla, Darwin, and Newton in what might be called the STEM-adjacent pet name category: surnames of historical figures whose contributions were large enough that the name itself carries intellectual gravitas. For science-minded owners, naming a pet Edison signals both admiration and a certain worldview about curiosity and invention.
Human-Pet Crossover
The human name Edison has been rising modestly in the US registry, which means it reads as a genuine name choice rather than purely ironic. The shift from surname to given name is well-established: Franklin, Grant, and Lincoln have all made this journey. See the human naming trajectory for Edison to understand where it sits in contemporary American naming culture.
Counter-Reading
The light bulb association invites exactly one joke — "Does Edison light up a room?" — which will be made by every visitor in the first week. After that, it settles into being simply a name. The joke's predictability is a small tax on choosing a cultural icon's surname.