The name 'Tarzan' was created by Edgar Rice Burroughs for the main character in his novel 'Tarzan of the Apes' (1912). In the novel, Tarzan is the ape name of the baby John Clayton, who was adopted by the Mangani great apes after his parents died in the African jungle. The name is said to mean 'white skin' in the fictional Mangani ape language. Tarzan is a fictional character, a feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject ...