Meaning and background
The story behind Kiwi
Kiwi names a flightless New Zealand bird, a New Zealander by nickname, and the kiwifruit. Merriam-Webster identifies a Māori word source and describes the bird’s long bill and hairlike plumage. These different senses give the spelling several concrete naming references. A fruit-inspired choice and a New Zealand heritage reference can share the same everyday name, but they should not be mistaken for one universal personal-name derivation.
- Association
- Kiwi names a flightless New Zealand bird, a New Zealander by nickname, and the kiwifruit. Source
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About Kiwi
Recorded as a dog’s name
Kiwi appears in 57 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
/kiwi/
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
/kiwi/ · primary stress on syllable 1K IY1 W 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.