Meaning and background
The story behind Tarzan
Tarzan is the fictional jungle-raised hero created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, introduced to readers in 1912. The recognisable two-syllable name has an unusually specific literary source, rather than an established translation from a real-world language. It can bring an adventurous association to a dog’s tag, but the story is fiction, not an account of ancestry.
- Origin
- Fictional character name created by Edgar Rice Burroughs for Tarzan of the Apes, first published in 1912. Source
Try Tarzan out loud
Everyday moments“Tarzan, come here!”
Say it as you would on a walk or at home. Does it feel natural alongside your usual commands and other pets’ names?
About Tarzan
Recorded as a dog’s name
Tarzan appears in 12 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
/tɑɹzæn/
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
/tɑɹzæn/ · primary stress on syllable 1T AA1 R Z AE2 N
/tɑɹzən/ · primary stress on syllable 1T AA1 R Z AH0 N
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.