Meaning and background
The story behind Mavis
Mavis began as an English bird word for the song thrush, borrowed from Old French mauvis, whose earlier history is uncertain. It became a woman's given name in literary use, notably in Marie Corelli’s 1895 novel The Sorrows of Satan. That combination of nature vocabulary and literary naming sets it apart from the classical names nearby. In speech it has two syllables, sounding more traditional than the bird connection might suggest.
- Origin
- English given name adopted from the old word mavis for the song thrush, derived from Old French mauvis of uncertain deeper origin. Source
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Everyday moments“Mavis, come here!”
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About Mavis
Recorded as a dog’s name
Mavis appears in 15 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
/meɪvɪs/
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
/meɪvɪs/ · primary stress on syllable 1M EY1 V IH0 S
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.