Meaning and background
The story behind Duck
Duck is an English bird name whose history goes back to Old English forms connected with diving or ducking under water. It can refer broadly to the familiar water bird, and duck has also served as a term of endearment in British speech for centuries. Which of those associations led to a particular dog's name cannot be established. The compact one-syllable call is unmistakably a word name, not an ancient personal name with a hidden meaning.
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Everyday moments“Duck, come here!”
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About Duck
Recorded as a dog’s name
Duck 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
/dʌk/
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
/dʌk/ · primary stress on syllable 1D AH1 K
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.