Meaning and background
The story behind Bruno
Bruno has deep roots in Germanic personal naming and remains familiar across several European languages. The older element is disputed: etymological sources relate it either to a word for armour or protection, or to the word for brown. Saint Bruno of Cologne, founder of the Carthusian Order, is one historical bearer. Its popularity as a dog name cannot be inferred from that history without actual naming data.
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About Bruno
Recorded as a dog’s name
Bruno appears in 295 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
/bɹunoʊ/
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
/bɹunoʊ/ · primary stress on syllable 1B R UW1 N OW0
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.