Meaning and background
The story behind Leonidas
Leonidas has an ancient Greek construction: leōn, “lion”, joined with a patronymic ending. The most famous bearer was the Spartan king associated with the defence of Thermopylae in 480 BC. That historical association is substantial, but it is distinct from a guarantee of bravery for anyone given the name. The longer four-syllable shape also separates Leonidas from the simpler Leon and Leo, despite their shared Greek word root.
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About Leonidas
Recorded as a dog’s name
Leonidas appears in 3 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
/liɔnɪdəz/
US English sound sequence, converted from the CMU dictionary. Stress marks are shown separately.
Stress on the second syllable in the recorded US readings.
View dictionary notation
/liɔnɪdəz/ · primary stress on syllable 2L IY0 AO1 N IH0 D AH0 Z
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.