Meaning and background
The story behind Larry
Larry is a familiar English short form of Laurence or Lawrence rather than a separate ancient word. It became a complete given name in ordinary use, with the stress on the first syllable. As a dog name it feels conversational and easy to call. There is no need to invent an independent meaning for Larry when its shortened-name history is already well supported.
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Everyday moments“Larry, come here!”
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About Larry
Recorded as a dog’s name
Larry appears in 24 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
/lɛɹi/
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
/lɛɹi/ · primary stress on syllable 1L EH1 R 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.