Meaning and background
The story behind Harold
Harold has a substantial history as an English form of the Old English personal name Hereweald. The elements are usually explained through 'army' and 'power' or 'rule'. It also belonged to Harold II, the English king who died at Hastings in 1066. With two syllables and an established pronunciation, Harold offers a traditional human-name option without needing invented dog-specific symbolism.
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About Harold
Recorded as a dog’s name
Harold appears in 8 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
/hɛɹəld/
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
/hɛɹəld/ · primary stress on syllable 1HH EH1 R AH0 L D
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.