Meaning and background
The story behind Lilac
Lilac is named directly after the flowering shrub and the pale purple colour associated with many of its blossoms. The English word has travelled through French, Spanish and Arabic from a Persian term related to bluish colouring. Its pronunciation is LYE-lək, with the stress at the beginning. As a dog name the floral and colour associations are evident, but no particular coat colour is implied.
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About Lilac
Recorded as a dog’s name
Lilac appears in 8 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
/laɪlæk/
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
/laɪlæk/ · primary stress on syllable 1L AY1 L AE2 K
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.