Meaning and background
The story behind Roland
Roland has a Germanic fame element and a debated second element in Behind the Name. The usual account uses land, while another theory proposes bravery. The reference also distinguishes the historical commander from the greatly embellished medieval epic about him. That combination makes Roland a name with both linguistic and literary history, while avoiding the assumption that every detail of the famous story establishes the name’s original meaning.
- Origin
- Germanic name with fame and usually land elements; a bravery second element is an alternative theory. Source
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About Roland
Recorded as a dog’s name
Roland appears in 3 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
/ɹoʊlənd/
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
/ɹoʊlənd/ · primary stress on syllable 1R OW1 L AH0 N 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 — 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.