Animals A to Z: 217 Animal Names, With Fun Facts From the List
Here is our hand-checked list of 217 animals, from alligator to zebra. S has the most (25), followed by C (24) and P (20). Some letters are nearly empty: I has just two (iguana and impala), and only one animal each for Y and Z (yak and zebra). Q, U and X have none in our list.
Key facts
- 217 animals in our hand-checked list.
- S has 25 animals, C 24 and P 20.
- No animals in our list start with Q, U, X; Y and Z have one each.
The full list
- A: alligator, ant, antelope, ape, armadillo
- B: badger, bat, beagle, bear, beaver, bee, beetle, bird, bison, bluebird, boar, buffalo, bug, bulldog, bullock, butterfly
- C: calf, camel, canary, cardinal, cat, caterpillar, cheetah, chick, chicken, chimpanzee, chipmunk, clam, cobra, cockroach, cod, colt, cougar, cow, coyote, crab, crane, cricket, crocodile, crow
- D: deer, dinosaur, doe, dog, dolphin, donkey, dove, dragonfly, duck
- E: eagle, eel, elephant, elk
- F: falcon, ferret, filly, finch, firefly, fish, flamingo, flea, fox, frog
- G: gator, gazelle, gecko, giraffe, gnu, goat, goldfish, goose, gorilla, gosling, grasshopper, greyhound, grizzly
- H: hamster, hare, hawk, hedgehog, hen, heron, hippo, hippopotamus, hornet, horse, hound, hummingbird, hyena
- I: iguana, impala
- J: jackal, jaguar, jay, jellyfish
- K: kangaroo, kitten, koala
- L: ladybug, lamb, lark, lemur, leopard, lion, lizard, llama, lobster, locust, lynx
- M: magpie, mantis, mare, marlin, meerkat, mole, mongoose, monkey, moose, moray, mosquito, moth, mouse, mule, mustang
- N: narwhal, newt, nightingale
- O: octopus, orangutan, ostrich, otter, owl, ox, oyster
- P: panda, panther, parakeet, parrot, peacock, pelican, penguin, pheasant, pig, pigeon, piranha, platypus, pony, poodle, porcupine, pug, puma, pup, puppy, python
- R: rabbit, raccoon, raptor, rat, raven, reindeer, rhino, rhinoceros, robin, rooster
- S: salmon, scorpion, seagull, seahorse, seal, serpent, shark, sheep, shrimp, skunk, sloth, snail, snake, snipe, sparrow, spider, squid, squirrel, stag, stallion, starfish, starling, sturgeon, swan, swine
- T: tadpole, terrier, tick, tiger, toad, tortoise, toucan, tuna, turkey, turtle
- V: viper, vulture
- W: walrus, wasp, weasel, whale, wolf, wolverine, woodpecker, worm, wren
- Y: yak
- Z: zebra
Games to play with animal words
- Animal alphabet. Go around the room naming an animal for each letter. The tricky letters are I, N, V and Y.
- Guess the animal. One player gets a random animal from the random animal generator; others ask yes-or-no questions.
- Draw it. Animals make some of the best Pictionary words. Try the Pictionary word generator.
- Act it. Animals are perfect for charades with young kids.
How we built the list
We started from every word in WordNet whose main meaning is an animal, then checked each one by hand. We removed words whose animal meaning is rare (for example, “chat” is also a bird, and “jenny” a female donkey) and category words like “mammal”. Breed and baby-animal names that people use every day, like beagle, puppy and tadpole, stay in.
Sources
- Our own hand-checked list, built from WordNet 3.0, Princeton University.