Meaning and background
The story behind Mermaid
Mermaid is an English word for a mythical creature depicted with a woman's head and upper body and the tail of a fish. Its history goes back to Middle English, from an older word for sea combined with maid. The association belongs to folktales and storytelling, not a documented personal-name ancestry. As a dog name its imagery is unusually vivid, but that does not confer mythical abilities on its bearer.
- Meaning
- Mythical being described in stories as a woman with a fish’s tail instead of legs. Source
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About Mermaid
Recorded as a dog’s name
Mermaid appears in 2 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
/mɝmeɪd/
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
/mɝmeɪd/ · primary stress on syllable 1M ER1 M EY2 D
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 — all seven available extract years, retrieved 24 October 2026 — Recorded name spellings in NYC licence-period rows, extract years 2016–2018, 2022–2024 and 2026. Evidence selects one stated year per name. Annual snapshots overlap; never sum them as unique dogs. No national popularity, etymology or owner naming-intent claim.
- 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.