Meaning and background
The story behind Faithful
Faithful has a documented range of senses, from religious devotion to loyalty and reliability, and is formed from faith with the ending ful. That makes it a direct virtue word rather than a name requiring a speculative ancient origin. An owner may choose it as an affectionate hope or a way to describe a valued bond. The full word is more explicit than Fido's Latin-related route. Its meaning can explain the choice without serving as a guarantee about behaviour or a substitute for knowing the individual dog.
- Origin
- English adjective formed from faith and ful, with senses including devout, loyal and reliable. Source
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Everyday moments“Faithful, come here!”
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About Faithful
Recorded as a dog’s name
Faithful appears in 3 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
/feɪθfəl/
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
/feɪθfəl/ · primary stress on syllable 1F EY1 TH F AH0 L
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.