Meaning and background
The story behind Pooka
Pooka is an English-language spelling of Irish púca, a supernatural being in folklore sometimes presented as mischievous or unsettling. Ireland’s official placenames resource documents that familiar usage but also raises an important complication: the Irish word may itself have entered from medieval English. A dog’s name can evoke the story without implying a single, certain ancient Celtic derivation. The pet-name use is modern and its precise motivation remains unknown.
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About Pooka
Recorded as a dog’s name
Pooka appears in 4 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.