Meaning and background
The story behind Clove
Clove has two culinary histories worth keeping apart. The aromatic spice word came through French from a Latin word for a nail, reflecting its shape; a clove of garlic follows the separate Old English clufu route. An owner may prefer either association without combining them into one origin story. Compared with Clover, Clove is visibly shorter and has a more direct kitchen reference. Its warm, spicy impression is an editorial association, while the documented senses remain the spice and the garlic segment.
Try Clove out loud
Everyday moments“Clove, come here!”
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About Clove
an aromatic flower-bud spice; also a garlic segment
- Word language
- English
More about the name
Clove can mean a spice or one segment of a garlic bulb. These are separate senses, so a profile should let the owner choose the reference instead of forcing one culinary story onto every dog named Clove.
About this meaning
Language of the selected vocabulary reference; full personal-name derivation not asserted.
Recorded as a dog’s name
Clove appears in 6 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
/kloʊv/
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
/kloʊv/ · primary stress on syllable 1K L OW1 V
These are US dictionary readings. Personal, regional and other language pronunciations may differ.
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Editorial styles
Sources and research notes (3)
- 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
- Wiktionary contributors clove — English section — Selected dictionary sense, not proof of each dog owner's naming intent or complete personal-name etymology
References support the individual facts shown. A source link does not mean the entire profile has been verified.