Meaning and background
The story behind Henna
Henna has two distinct histories worth separating. As a Finnish personal name, it is documented as a feminine form of Heinrich. As an English common noun, henna is the reddish-brown plant dye used on hair and skin, a word borrowed through Arabic. It would be incorrect to say that the Finnish name literally means 'dye'. The same spelling allows either inspiration, and the intended choice is unknown.
- Origin
- Finnish feminine personal-name form of Heinrich; distinct from the English noun for plant dye. Source
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Everyday moments“Henna, come here!”
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About Henna
Recorded as a dog’s name
Henna appears in 4 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
/hɛnə/
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
/hɛnə/ · primary stress on syllable 1HH EH1 N AH0
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.