After a bit of number-crunching in Santa’s local workshop, Hutt City Council’s merry little helpers are ready to unveil the year’s official lists. It’s fair to say it’s been a busy and an interesting old year.

From popular dog names, most unusual things people have tried to recycle, length of lawns mowed through to authors and books, enjoy this collection of lists from around some of our council services.

The most popular dog names:

• Charlie (113)
• Luna (108)
• Bella (107)
• Poppy (75)
• Coco (74)
• Ruby (64)
• Molly (61)
• Max (59)
• Rosie (59)
• Milo (58)

The most unusual dog names:

• Molly Naughty Bottom Sausage B
• Marshmallow Butterscotch
• Richie McPaw
• Schmepples
• Magoo
• Amity’s Lemon Sorbet
• Goose
• Marmalade
• Skittles
• Moussaka

The Parks, Sport and Recreation team have:

• Cut 2,878,410sqm of grass 24 times a year (68,821,080sqm), which is approximately the equivalent of driving the length of New Zealand over 34 times.
• Maintained 400,00 sqm of gardens seven times a year (2,942,594sqm)
• Maintained 793 park benches
• Emptied park bins 246,740 times
• Open/closed gates 261,340 times
• Maintained 5632 trees
• Marked and maintained 200 sports fields

Most unusual things people have tried to recycle

• Kitchen pots and pans
• Dead animals
• Novalight roofing
• Kitchen sponges
• Garden & food waste
• Children's toys
• Christmas decorations
• Sanitary items and Nappies
• Camping equipment
• Medical waste (syringes)

The Hutt City Council contact centre have (Oct 2024 – Nov 2025):

• Taken 50,604 phone calls
• Handled 14,240 emails
• Clocked 943,665 website visits
• Received 14,240 counter enquiries

Did you notice? Emails handled and counter enquiries coincidentally had an identical number.

The Hutt City Council libraries team.

From the most popular titles to most borrowed authors, children's books and beyond, here are the front runners.

Adult Fiction Top Titles

• In Too Deep — Lee Child
• By Any Other Name — Jodi Picoult
• The Secret — Lee Child
• Camino Ghosts — John Grisham
• The Waiting — Michael Connelly
• No Plan B — Lee Child
• Lola in the Mirror — Trent Dalton
• Lessons in Chemistry — Bonnie Garmus
• The Hidden Girl — Lucinda Riley
• The Exchange — John Grisham

Adult Audiobook Top Titles

• Atomic Habits — James Clear
• Silver Thaw — Catherine Anderson
• The 6:20 Man — David Baldacci
• Unruly — David Mitchell
• Beating About the Bush — M. C. Beaton
• Outback Hope — Annie Seaton
• 2 Sisters Detective Agency — James Patterson
• Better Off Dead — Lee Child
• Burning Ridge — Margaret Mizushima
• The Butterfly Room — Lucinda Riley

Most Borrowed Authors in Adult Fiction

• Lee Child
• James Patterson
• John Grisham
• Richard Osman
• David Baldacci
• Michael Connelly
• Marjan Kamali
• Jodi Picoult
• Eleanor Catton
• Bonnie Garmus

Adult Non-fiction Top Titles

• A Different Kind of Power: A Memoir — Jacinda Ardern
• The Official New Zealand Road Code 2023
• Atomic Habits — James Clear
• The Bookseller at the End of the World — Ruth Shaw
• Straight Up — Ruby Tui
• The Last Secret Agent — Pippa Latour
• Supergood — Chelsea Winter
• Spare — Prince Harry
• A Life Less Punishing — Matt Heath
• The Let Them Theory — Mel Robbins

Children’s fiction top titles

• Big Shot — Jeff Kinney
• No Brainer — Jeff Kinney
• Fundraising Frenzy — Meredith Costain
• Hypno-Ninja! — Anh Do
• Old School — Jeff Kinney
• Diper Överlöde — Jeff Kinney
• Everything’s Amazing (Sort Of) — Liz Pichon
• Pirates of the Lost Ocean Temple — Zack Zombie
• The Bad Guys: Episode 20, One Last Thing — Aaron Blabey
• Amazing Acrobats — Meredith Costain

Young Adult fiction

• Sunrise on the Reaping — Suzanne Collins
• Good Girl, Bad Blood — Holly Jackson
• The Final Gambit — Jennifer Lynn Barnes
• Mockingjay — Suzanne Collins
• The Assassin’s Blade — Sarah J. Maas
• Throne of Glass — Sarah J. Maas
• Powerless — Lauren Roberts
• A Thousand Boy Kisses — Tillie Cole
• Crown of Midnight — Sarah J. Maas
• A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder — Holly Jackson

Top issued titles across all ages and collections

• In Too Deep — Lee Child
• By Any Other Name — Jodi Picoult
• Dog Man: Big Jim Begins — Dav Pilkey
• The Secret — Lee Child
• Safe Enough and Other Stories — Lee Child
• Dog Man: The Scarlet Shedder — Dav Pilkey
• A Different Kind of Power: A Memoir — Jacinda Ardern
• The Official New Zealand Road Code 2023
• Dog Man: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea — Dav Pilkey
• Dog Man — Dav Pilkey

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