Meaning and background
The story behind Hyphen
Hyphen names the punctuation mark used to join or divide written elements. Merriam-Webster traces the word through Latin and Greek to a phrase meaning under one and records English noun use around 1620. That gives the spelling a documented writing-related story beyond its visual shape. A bookish household can choose it as a playful name, with the linguistic history belonging to the punctuation word rather than a traditional given name.
- Association
- Hyphen names the punctuation mark used to join or divide written elements. Source
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About Hyphen
Recorded as a dog’s name
Hyphen appears in 3 dog licence records in the 2016 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
/haɪfən/
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
/haɪfən/ · primary stress on syllable 1HH AY1 F 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 — all seven available extract years, retrieved 24 October 2026 — Recorded name spellings in NYC licence-period rows, extract years 2016–2018, 2022–2024 and 2026. Evidence selects one stated year per name. Annual snapshots overlap; never sum them as unique dogs. No national popularity, etymology or owner naming-intent claim.
- 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.