Meaning and background
The story behind Leonard
Leonard is a traditional Germanic name combining an element linked with lion and another meaning brave or firm. In English its history includes medieval use after the Normans brought it across the Channel. The name also produces the familiar short forms Len, Lennie and Lenny. “Brave lion” is a reasonable description of the old compound, though it should remain an etymology rather than an assertion about an animal’s personality.
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About Leonard
Recorded as a dog’s name
Leonard appears in 16 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
/lɛnɚd/
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
/lɛnɚd/ · primary stress on syllable 1L EH1 N ER0 D
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.