Meaning and background
The story behind Bowie
Bowie combines a Scottish surname history with a prominent musical association. Behind the Name derives the surname from Gaelic buidhe, associated with yellow, and notes modern given-name use honouring David Bowie. It also explains that the musician chose his stage name from James Bowie while using a different pronunciation. A tribute to the singer and a family surname connection are therefore distinct reasons for choosing Bowie, even when the written name is identical.
- Origin
- From a Scottish surname derived from Gaelic buidhe, yellow; modern use may honour David Bowie. Source
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About Bowie
Recorded as a dog’s name
Bowie appears in 122 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
/boʊi/
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
/boʊi/ · primary stress on syllable 1B OW1 IY0
These are US dictionary readings. Personal, regional and other language pronunciations may differ.
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Sources and research notes (2)
Gender association: NYC licence-period records. Any dog can use this name.
- 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.