Meaning and background
The story behind Savage
Savage is both an English adjective and an established surname. The adjective can describe something fierce or wild, and some uses for people carry an offensive history. The surname, meanwhile, developed from Norman French vocabulary and cannot be reduced to a statement about a present-day bearer. For a dog, the name may sound bold, but its written form alone does not tell us whether the owner intended the surname or the English word.
- Origin
- English surname from a Norman-French/Middle English nickname related to sauvage, “wild” or “untamed”; also an independent modern English adjective. Source
Try Savage out loud
Everyday moments“Savage, come here!”
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About Savage
Recorded as a dog’s name
Savage appears in 6 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
/sævədʒ/
US English sound sequence, converted from the CMU dictionary. Stress marks are shown separately.
Stress on the first syllable in the recorded US readings.
Other dictionary readings and notation
/sævədʒ/ · primary stress on syllable 1S AE1 V AH0 JH
/sævɪdʒ/ · primary stress on syllable 1S AE1 V IH0 JH
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.