Meaning and background
The story behind Godzilla
Godzilla is the English form of Japanese Gojira, the monster name made famous by the 1954 film. Its construction combines the Japanese words gorira, 'gorilla', and kujira, 'whale'; it is a twentieth-century creative blend, not an ancient Japanese personal name. Although the character suggests enormous size, that is an association from film rather than a prediction about the dog wearing the name.
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Everyday moments“Godzilla, come here!”
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About Godzilla
Recorded as a dog’s name
Godzilla appears in 5 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
/ɡɑdzɪlə/
US English sound sequence, converted from the CMU dictionary. Stress marks are shown separately.
Stress on the second syllable in the recorded US readings.
View dictionary notation
/ɡɑdzɪlə/ · primary stress on syllable 2G AA2 D Z IH1 L 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.