Meaning and background
The story behind Cheyenne
Cheyenne was adopted into English personal naming from the name of the Cheyenne people of the Great Plains. Popular explanations often translate the ethnonym as red speakers, but detailed linguistic work traces it through French to a Dakota diminutive of a term for Cree. That history is more careful than treating a community's name as a dog personality description. The Cheyenne have their own language and identity apart from the borrowed given name.
- Origin
- English given name taken from the Cheyenne people; English ethnonym entered via French from a Dakota diminutive for Cree Source
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Everyday moments“Cheyenne, come here!”
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About Cheyenne
Recorded as a dog’s name
Cheyenne 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.
Pronunciation and rhythm
/ʃaɪɛn/
US English sound sequence, converted from the CMU dictionary. Stress marks are shown separately.
Stress on the second syllable in the recorded US readings.
View dictionary notation
/ʃaɪɛn/ · primary stress on syllable 2SH AY0 EH1 N
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.