Meaning and background
The story behind Tillie
Tillie is an established English diminutive of Matilda, found alongside Tilly. The underlying Germanic name is associated with strength and battle, but the affectionate ending is a development in naming, not a separate dictionary word. Tillie has a clear opening consonant and a soft finish that are easy to use in day-to-day calls.
- Origin
- English diminutive of Matilda. Source
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About Tillie
Recorded as a dog’s name
Tillie appears in 12 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
/tɪli/
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
/tɪli/ · primary stress on syllable 1T IH1 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.