Meaning and background
The story behind Leo
Leo is an old and widespread personal name, from Latin leo, “lion”. It was used by early Christians, a long succession of popes, and European rulers. In English it is normally pronounced LEE-oh, but other European pronunciations reflect their respective languages. The spelling can also be short for names beginning Leo-, such as Leonard. Here the lion meaning is genuinely part of the root, rather than a modern nickname invented for a pet.
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Everyday moments“Leo, come here!”
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About Leo
Recorded as a dog’s name
Leo appears in 445 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
/lioʊ/
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
/lioʊ/ · primary stress on syllable 1L IY1 OW0
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.