Meaning and background
The story behind Merida
Merida is recognised by many viewers as the central character in Pixar's film Brave. The studio has not supplied a definite etymology for her name in the consulted naming reference. It may have been inspired by the Spanish city of Mérida, which derives from the Roman colony Augusta Emerita, founded for veterans of Augustus. Those are two contexts, not proof that the fictional character's name translates literally as veteran. The uncertainty belongs in the profile.
- Origin
- Popular-culture given name used for the heroine of the film Brave; possibly inspired by the Spanish city Mérida, once the Roman colony Augusta Emerita. Source
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Everyday moments“Merida, come here!”
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About Merida
Recorded as a dog’s name
Merida appears in 6 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
/mɚidə/
US English sound sequence, converted from the CMU dictionary. Stress marks are shown separately.
Stress on the second syllable in the recorded US readings.
View dictionary notation
/mɚidə/ · primary stress on syllable 2M ER0 IY1 D AH0
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.