Meaning and background
The story behind Bento
Bento carries two quite different established associations. As a Portuguese personal name it is a short form of Benedito, the Portuguese member of the Benedict name family. In Japanese-derived English usage, bento is a boxed meal or lunchbox. These histories should not be merged into one supposed translation. Either connection offers a recognisable reference, depending on why an owner chose it.
Try Bento out loud
Everyday moments“Bento, come here!”
Say it as you would on a walk or at home. Does it feel natural alongside your usual commands and other pets’ names?
About Bento
Recorded as a dog’s name
Bento appears in 7 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
/bɛntoʊ/
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
/bɛntoʊ/ · primary stress on syllable 1B EH1 N T OW0
These are US dictionary readings. Personal, regional and other language pronunciations may differ.
Compare your favourites
Put Bento beside another name before you decide.
Explore names like Bento
Narrow the finder by the features you want to keep.
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.