Meaning and background
The story behind Beowulf
Beowulf is the name of the hero of an Old English epic. One famous explanation parses it as “bee-wolf”, an indirect description of a bear raiding beehives; specialists, however, have offered other etymologies involving an older divine name or a battle element. The literary reference is certain, but the literal derivation is disputed. That uncertainty belongs in the profile rather than being hidden.
- Origin
- Old English heroic personal name; title and central character of the poem Beowulf Source
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About Beowulf
Recorded as a dog’s name
Beowulf 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
/beɪəwʊlf/
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
/beɪəwʊlf/ · primary stress on syllable 1B EY1 AH0 W UH2 L F
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.