Meaning and background
The story behind Asha
Asha has two separately attested name histories. In Hindi and several other Indian languages it comes from Sanskrit āśā, referring to hope or desire. In Swahili, another Asha is connected with a verb meaning to live, with an Arabic root. Neither origin can be assigned to a particular dog from the spelling alone. Its brief two-syllable shape works across both traditions.
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Everyday moments“Asha, come here!”
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About Asha
Recorded as a dog’s name
Asha appears in 9 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
/ɑʃə/
US English sound sequence, converted from the CMU dictionary. Stress marks are shown separately.
Stress on the first syllable in the recorded US readings.
View dictionary notation
/ɑʃə/ · primary stress on syllable 1AA1 SH AH0
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.