Meaning and background
The story behind Muscle
Muscle has both anatomical and figurative English senses in the dictionary. The tissue and organ definitions concern movement, while broader uses involve physical strength, power, or forcing a way through. A dog owner may choose the name theatrically or affectionately, but the word does not require a large or powerful breed. The reference supplies vocabulary associations without predicting behavior or establishing an independent historical personal-name meaning.
- Association
- English word association with movement-producing tissue, strength or power. Source
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About Muscle
Recorded as a dog’s name
Muscle appears in 2 dog licence records in the 2022 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
/mʌsəl/
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
/mʌsəl/ · primary stress on syllable 1M AH1 S AH0 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 — 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.