Meaning and background
The story behind Dai
Dai is an established Welsh familiar form of Dafydd, the Welsh form of David. That gives the very short spelling a specific personal-name history rather than an arbitrary letter combination. The reference Welsh reading is a single syllable, approximately dye. If a dog receives the name through a Welsh person or family connection, the longer form helps explain it clearly. Other languages may use similar Roman letters, but this profile's documented route should not be stretched into a universal meaning for every Dai.
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About Dai
Recorded as a dog’s name
Dai appears in 4 dog licence records in the 2022 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
/daɪ/
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
/daɪ/ · primary stress on syllable 1D AY1
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.