Mikey ranks at #289 with 391 entries, an enduring short form that sits comfortably in the casual-male diminutive register. Like Tommy and Billy, Mikey has held its place on pet charts even as longer-form Michael has moved through cycles on baby charts.
The casual-male diminutive tradition
Mikey clusters with Tommy, Billy, and Charlie in the warm-friendly-guy register. The pattern reads everyman and approachable, which is exactly the register most owners want for medium-sized friendly dogs. Pet naming consistently favors short forms, and Mikey is a textbook example.
Sound and breed fit
The two-syllable shape (MY-kee) has a soft front and a sing-out ending — easy to call affectionately, slightly less projection-friendly than harder names. Mikey lands across breeds without strong preferences, but Beagles, Cocker Spaniels, mid-sized mixed breeds, and friendly working dogs all carry it at slightly higher rates than guard or sighthound types.
The Goonies counter-reading
One reading worth flagging: Mikey Walsh from The Goonies (1985) anchored the name for Gen X owners, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' Michelangelo ("Mikey") gave it a parallel anchor for the same generation. Multiple 1980s cultural reads coexist comfortably. The Mikey baby name page shows the short form has rarely been used as a given name on the SSA chart — most Mikeys on paper are Michaels in reality.