Meaning and background
The story behind Wilma
Wilma is a recognised short form of Wilhelmina, the feminine form of a Germanic name related to Wilhelm and William. German, Dutch and English pronunciations are not identical; the familiar English reading is WILL-mə. Its historical connection is therefore through an established given-name family rather than an ordinary English word. A well-known fictional association is Wilma Flintstone, but that character did not originate the personal name.
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About Wilma
Recorded as a dog’s name
Wilma appears in 16 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
/wɪlmə/
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
/wɪlmə/ · primary stress on syllable 1W IH1 L M AH0
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.