Meaning and background
The story behind Bala
Bala is short in English letters but can conceal an important distinction in Sanskrit. The word bala relates to strength or might, while bāla, with a long first vowel, means young or a child. Both can be written Bala when the accent marks disappear. It would therefore be misleading to give every dog called Bala the same fixed translation without knowing which language form was intended.
- Origin
- The spelling Bala can represent Sanskrit bala (बल), “strength, might”, or bāla (बाल), “young, a child”; vowel length distinguishes the words. Source
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Everyday moments“Bala, come here!”
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About Bala
Recorded as a dog’s name
Bala appears in 4 dog licence records in the 2016 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
/bɑlə/
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
/bɑlə/ · primary stress on syllable 1B AA1 L 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 — all seven available extract years, retrieved 24 October 2026 — Recorded name spellings in NYC licence-period rows, extract years 2016–2018, 2022–2024 and 2026. Evidence selects one stated year per name. Annual snapshots overlap; never sum them as unique dogs. No national popularity, etymology or owner naming-intent claim.
- 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.