Meaning and background
The story behind Anchovy
Anchovy is the familiar English name for a small sea fish, also widely used in cooking. English borrowed the term through Portuguese anchova from a Genoese or Corsican form, but dictionaries record competing explanations for its still earlier history. It makes a playful culinary pet name with a clear modern referent, yet the uncertain deeper etymology should not be replaced with a neat invented Latin or Basque translation.
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About Anchovy
Recorded as a dog’s name
Anchovy appears in 4 dog licence records in the 2026 New York City dataset.
How to read this count
These records cover New York City and may count the same dog in more than one licence period. They are not a national popularity ranking.
Pronunciation and rhythm
/æntʃoʊvi/
US English sound sequence, converted from the CMU dictionary. Stress marks are shown separately.
Other dictionary readings and notation
/æntʃoʊvi/ · primary stress on syllable 2AE0 N CH OW1 V IY0
/æntʃoʊvi/ · primary stress on syllable 1AE1 N CH OW2 V IY0
These are US dictionary readings. Personal, regional and other language pronunciations may differ.
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Sources and research notes (2)
- New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene NYC Dog Licensing Dataset — extract_year 2026 — Dog licence periods, not unique dogs; NYC only. No owner-level fields retrieved.
- Carnegie Mellon University / CMU Sphinx maintainers CMU US English Pronouncing Dictionary — US English dictionary readings; not owner-specific or exhaustive multilingual pronunciation
References support the individual facts shown. A source link does not mean the entire profile has been verified.