Meaning and background
The story behind Melanie
Melanie entered English through French Mélanie, from the Latin Melania. Further back is a Greek word, melaina, meaning dark or black. The name has a history in early Christianity, including a Roman saint called Melania. Its older meaning is linguistic history, not a judgement about someone or a dog bearing the name. Melanie is readily spoken in three syllables, with a well-established human-name origin.
- Origin
- English name from French Mélanie and Latin Melania, derived from Greek melaina, “dark, black”. Source
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About Melanie
Recorded as a dog’s name
Melanie appears in 7 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
/mɛləni/
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
/mɛləni/ · primary stress on syllable 1M EH1 L AH0 N IY0
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.