Meaning and background
The story behind Little
Little has a documented surname history beyond the ordinary English adjective. The Dictionary of American Family Names records size-related or younger-bearer nicknames in English, an Irish translation, and adaptations of several European and Native American names. Some historical nicknames could be ironic. These routes mean the surname cannot reveal a modern bearer's size or one shared ancestry, even though the everyday word remains an obvious pet-name association.
- Origin
- Surname from English size or younger-bearer nicknames, Irish name translation, and translations of several European or Native American names. Source
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Everyday moments“Little, come here!”
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About Little
Recorded as a dog’s name
Little appears in 61 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
/lɪtəl/
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
/lɪtəl/ · primary stress on syllable 1L IH1 T AH0 L
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.