Meaning and background
The story behind Ponyo
Ponyo is the title character of Hayao Miyazaki’s 2008 animated film Ponyo, whose Japanese title is 崖の上のポニョ. Studio Ghibli’s own film catalogue confirms the title, year and creative credits. Its appeal as a dog name can rest on that gentle, distinctive sound or on the film, but neither the studio record nor the spelling supplies an authoritative literal Japanese translation. No speculative word meaning is proposed.
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Everyday moments“Ponyo, come here!”
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About Ponyo
Recorded as a dog’s name
Ponyo appears in 5 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.
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Sources and research notes (1)
- 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.
References support the individual facts shown. A source link does not mean the entire profile has been verified.