Meaning and background
The story behind Tatum
Tatum became a modern given name from an English surname. The surname is linked to Tatham in Lancashire, whose place-name combines the old personal name Tāta with an Old English word for a homestead. That history is more specific than the often repeated slogan that Tatum simply means “cheerful”. The name’s two syllables are compact and clear.
- Origin
- English surname, variant of Tatham, derived from a Lancashire place name built from Old English Tāta and hām “homestead”. Source
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About Tatum
Recorded as a dog’s name
Tatum 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
/teɪtəm/
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
/teɪtəm/ · primary stress on syllable 1T EY1 T AH0 M
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.