MA-0014 · first seen 2010
Doge
A Shiba Inu looking sideways, surrounded by multicoloured Comic Sans captions in a broken inner monologue.
- Status
- HotTrend score of 60 or more right now
- Trend score
- 63/100Estimated
- Change, 90 days
- +14%Estimated
- Peak
- 92Dec 2013
- Years active
- 10Index of 30 or more
- First seen
- 20102010
Popularity over time
Monthly attention from Feb 2010 to Oct 2026. Hover or tab through the chart for each month.
- First appearance
- Went viral
- Peak
- Decline
Attention index, 0 to 100 on one scale for the whole archive. Estimated from each meme’s key dates, not measured.
About
The photograph of Kabosu, a Shiba Inu, was posted to her owner’s blog in 2010. In summer 2013 it was spammed on 4chan and Reddit with captions in multicoloured Comic Sans: short phrases such as “such wow” and “much” that formed a charming, ungrammatical inner voice.
Doge was Know Your Meme’s top meme of 2013 and led directly to Dogecoin, launched in December 2013 as the first cryptocurrency based on an Internet joke. It returned in 2021, when Dogecoin surged and a related NFT was bought for $4 million. Kabosu died on 24 May 2024, aged 18.
Origin
A photo of the Shiba Inu Kabosu posted to her owner’s blog in 2010.
2010
Viralization
Spammed on 4chan’s /b/ in August 2013 and then spread across Reddit and Tumblr.
July 2013
Peak
Estimated peak in December 2013, when Dogecoin launched; a second surge came in 2021.
Dec 2013
Timeline
From the first post to where it stands today.
Origin
A photo of Kabosu
Atsuko Sato posts a photo of her Shiba Inu on her blog.
Early adoption
Comic Sans and “such wow”
The image is combined with coloured captions on Reddit and 4chan.
Viral
Top meme of 2013
Know Your Meme names it the top meme of the year.
Peak
Dogecoin
A cryptocurrency based on the meme launches in December.
Decline
Overexposure
The format fades after a year of constant use and brand adoption.
Current
Kabosu dies
Kabosu, the dog in the photo, dies of leukaemia at the age of 18.
Related memes
Chosen by shared era, category, platform and cultural link.
Grumpy Cat
15/1000%Classic2012Same conversation · Same era
Nyan Cat
22/100+1%Classic2011Same conversation · Same era
Pepe the Frog
44/100+6%Rising2005Same conversation · Same era
Stonks
57/100+12%Rising2017Same conversation · Same kind of meme