Meaning and background
The story behind Goliath
Goliath is the English form of a biblical name written Golyat in Hebrew, best known as the Philistine giant defeated by David. The older name has a proposed connection with a Hebrew verb meaning to uncover or reveal, but this is not an agreed, certain literal translation. It is the biblical giant's reputation, rather than an assured etymology, that gives Goliath its strong association with great size.
- Origin
- Biblical name transmitted from Hebrew גָּלְיָת (Golyat), the name of the giant Philistine in the David narrative. Source
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About Goliath
Recorded as a dog’s name
Goliath appears in 7 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
/ɡəlaɪəθ/
US English sound sequence, converted from the CMU dictionary. Stress marks are shown separately.
Stress on the second syllable in the recorded US readings.
View dictionary notation
/ɡəlaɪəθ/ · primary stress on syllable 2G AH0 L AY1 AH0 TH
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.