Meaning and background
The story behind Mate
Mate is a particularly British-sounding dog name when read as the everyday word for a friend. The same spelling also has independent given-name uses: Georgian Mate is a form of Matthew, while Croatian Mate is a diminutive related to Matej or Matija. Those readings need not share the English pronunciation. The familiar one-syllable call therefore has a clear local meaning, but it should not be presented as the universal etymology of every Mate.
- Meaning
- In informal British English, a friend or companion. Source
Try Mate out loud
Everyday moments“Mate, come here!”
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About Mate
Recorded as a dog’s name
Mate appears in 4 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
/meɪt/
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
/meɪt/ · primary stress on syllable 1M EY1 T
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.