Meaning and background
The story behind Maverick
Maverick was a surname before it became a general English word. Its present meaning of an independent-minded person comes from the story of Texas rancher Samuel A. Maverick, who did not brand his cattle. The name often evokes unconventionality in popular culture, but that is a word association rather than evidence of a dog's behaviour. The three-syllable form makes a relatively bold and unmistakable call name.
- Meaning
- An independent-minded person who does not follow conventional ideas; a word derived from the surname of Samuel A. Maverick. Source
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About Maverick
Recorded as a dog’s name
Maverick appears in 52 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
/mævɚɪk/
US English sound sequence, converted from the CMU dictionary. Stress marks are shown separately.
Stress on the first syllable in the recorded US readings.
Other dictionary readings and notation
/mævɚɪk/ · primary stress on syllable 1M AE1 V ER0 IH0 K
/mævɹɪk/ · primary stress on syllable 1M AE1 V R IH0 K
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.
Dictionary readings have 2 or 3 syllables.
- 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.