Meaning and background
The story behind Curtis
Curtis comes from an English surname with an Old French source meaning courteous. The favourable word history is easy to appreciate, but it describes the name's linguistic background rather than a dog's manners. The reference gives British and American two-syllable readings that differ in their treatment of the r. Curtis works as a full human-style name for a dog without requiring a nickname. If courtesy is the association you enjoy, present it as an aspiration or personal preference rather than a behavioural prediction.
- Origin
- English surname whose older French source meant courteous. Source
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About Curtis
Recorded as a dog’s name
Curtis appears in 5 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
/kɝtəs/
US English sound sequence, converted from the CMU dictionary. Stress marks are shown separately.
Stress on the first syllable in the recorded US readings.
Other dictionary readings and notation
/kɝtəs/ · primary stress on syllable 1K ER1 T AH0 S
/kɝtɪs/ · primary stress on syllable 1K ER1 T IH0 S
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.