Meaning and background
The story behind Harvey
Harvey is an established English given name inherited through Norman usage from a Breton name. Its historical components have been interpreted with elements relating to iron or battle and eagerness or vigour; the source discusses uncertainty in the old forms. It is therefore safer to describe the Breton connection than to force one literal translation. Harvey has two syllables in ordinary British English.
- Origin
- English given name from a Norman-transmitted Breton personal name, with historically discussed alternative underlying elements. Source
- Meaning
- Traditionally analysed with a first element relating to iron or battle and a second relating to eagerness; precise derivation is not certain. Source
- Pronunciation
- British English /ˈhɑː.vi/. Source
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About Harvey
Recorded as a dog’s name
Harvey appears in 43 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
/hɑɹvi/
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
/hɑɹvi/ · primary stress on syllable 1HH AA1 R V IY0
These are US dictionary readings. Personal, regional and other language pronunciations may differ.
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Sources and research notes (2)
Gender association: NYC licence-period records. Any dog can use this name.
- 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.