Meaning and background
The story behind Totoro
Totoro is best known as the title character of Studio Ghibli's film *My Neighbor Totoro*. Ghibli's own catalogue dates the Japanese release to 16 April 1988 and credits Hayao Miyazaki. Its association as a dog's name is therefore chiefly cinematic. This source does not establish that the romanised word has an independent, universally applicable dictionary translation.
- Origin
- Japanese fictional character and film title from Studio Ghibli’s My Neighbor Totoro (1988). Source
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About Totoro
Recorded as a dog’s name
Totoro 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.
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Sources and research notes (1)
- 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.
References support the individual facts shown. A source link does not mean the entire profile has been verified.