Dog name guide

Charity

The meaning, background and naming story of Charity.

Letters
7
Syllables
3Dictionary reading
Starts with
C

Meaning and background

The story behind Charity

Charity has a documented history as a virtue name in English. It comes from the noun charity, ultimately Latin caritas, associated with love, esteem and care for others. Christian communities, including the Puritans, adopted the English word as a given name, giving it a naming tradition beyond the modern idea of donations. That history belongs to the name itself; it does not require declaring a dog generous or especially kind.

Origin
English Christian virtue name from charity, ultimately Latin caritas Source
Meaning
Charity or benevolent love (English virtue name) Source

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About Charity

Recorded as a dog’s name

Charity appears in 3 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.

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Pronunciation and rhythm

/tʃɛɹɪti/

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

/tʃɛɹɪti/ · primary stress on syllable 1
CH EH1 R IH0 T IY0

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.

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