Meaning and background
The story behind Rutherford
Rutherford is a surname taken from a place in the Scottish Borders, historically associated with Rutherford at Maxton in Roxburghshire. A familiar explanation links its elements to an Old English word for ox and a river crossing, but a Celtic interpretation of part of the place name has also been proposed. That uncertainty matters: “ox ford” is not a universally proven literal translation of everyone’s surname.
- Origin
- Scottish and northern English habitational surname from Rutherford at Maxton, Roxburghshire; “ox” plus “ford” is one proposed analysis, with a Celtic alternative. Source
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About Rutherford
Recorded as a dog’s name
Rutherford 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.
Pronunciation and rhythm
/ɹʌθɚfɚd/
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
/ɹʌθɚfɚd/ · primary stress on syllable 1R AH1 TH ER0 F ER0 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.