Meaning and background
The story behind Serengeti
Serengeti is a recognised geographical name for the plains and ecosystem of northern Tanzania, especially its famous national park. As a dog name it invokes a specific East African landscape rather than a conventional personal-name lineage. Widely repeated literal translations of its underlying Maasai expression are not all documented in the dictionary source, so the factual patch confines itself to the secure location reference.
- Origin
- East African place-name referring to the Serengeti plains and associated national park in Tanzania. Source
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About Serengeti
Recorded as a dog’s name
Serengeti appears in 3 dog licence records in the 2022 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
/sɛɹənɡɛti/
US English sound sequence, converted from the CMU dictionary. Stress marks are shown separately.
Stress on the third syllable in the recorded US readings.
View dictionary notation
/sɛɹənɡɛti/ · primary stress on syllable 3S EH2 R AH0 N G EH1 T 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 — all seven available extract years, retrieved 24 October 2026 — Recorded name spellings in NYC licence-period rows, extract years 2016–2018, 2022–2024 and 2026. Evidence selects one stated year per name. Annual snapshots overlap; never sum them as unique dogs. No national popularity, etymology or owner naming-intent claim.
- 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.