Meaning and background
The story behind Holden
Holden has a long surname history in England, especially as a name taken from particular settlements. Many English place-name explanations involve Old English words for a hollow and a valley, though some sites had an element meaning pasture. FamilySearch also documents a separate Norwegian farm-name origin involving a slope or hillside. These are distinct geographical histories; 'hollow valley' should not be treated as a universal meaning for all bearers.
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About Holden
Recorded as a dog’s name
Holden appears in 5 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
/hoʊldən/
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
/hoʊldən/ · primary stress on syllable 1HH OW1 L D AH0 N
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.