Meaning and background
The story behind Tally
A tally is a running record of a number or amount, a sense descended from the old practice of marking notches on a stick. It offers an appealing everyday-word association for a dog’s short, two-syllable name. Tally can also appear in informal personal naming, but this dictionary explanation should not be mistaken for the etymology of every person called Tally.
- Meaning
- A record of a number or amount, especially one that is updated as items are counted. Source
Try Tally out loud
Everyday moments“Tally, come here!”
Say it as you would on a walk or at home. Does it feel natural alongside your usual commands and other pets’ names?
About Tally
Recorded as a dog’s name
Tally 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.
Pronunciation and rhythm
/tæli/
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
/tæli/ · primary stress on syllable 1T AE1 L IY0
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.