Meaning and background
The story behind Meatball
Meatball is a food nickname taken from the ordinary English word for a ball of minced meat, often served with a sauce. It is an unmistakably playful choice as a dog's name, but that tone arises from the familiar dish rather than from an old personal-name tradition. The word's three syllables and concrete meaning provide plenty of explanation without suggesting particular characteristics or habits of the animal.
- Meaning
- A ball of finely minced meat, typically cooked and served hot, often with a sauce. Source
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Everyday moments“Meatball, come here!”
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About Meatball
Recorded as a dog’s name
Meatball appears in 16 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
/mitbɔl/
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
/mitbɔl/ · primary stress on syllable 1M IY1 T B AO2 L
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.