Meaning and background
The story behind Tiki
Tiki has a specific cultural-word association with a carved image of a Polynesian supernatural power. Merriam-Webster traces the word through Māori and Marquesan usage involving Tiki in first-human traditions. That account is more precise than treating it only as a general tropical decoration. A dog owner may have a personal travel or artistic memory, while the reference preserves the cultural context rather than inventing a universal personal-name translation.
- Association
- Word association with Polynesian carved supernatural imagery, with Māori and Marquesan word history. Source
Try Tiki out loud
Everyday moments“Tiki, come here!”
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About Tiki
Recorded as a dog’s name
Tiki appears in 13 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
/tiki/
US English sound sequence, converted from the CMU dictionary. Stress marks are shown separately.
View dictionary notation
/tiki/T IY1 K IY1
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.