Animal Names in Spanish
Before you have lived in Spain for very long, you will probably have learned some animal names in Spanish. For example, perro is dog, gato is cat, and burro is donkey. But the following list will bring up some other animals, insects and birds that you may or may not know the Spanish words for. Enjoy learning!!
Animal Names in Spanish
Animal Names in SpanishAlpaca – la alpaca
Ant – la hormiga
Bat – el murcielago
Bear – el oso
Beaver – al castor
Bee – la abeja
Beetle – el escarabajo
Bird – el pájaro
Blackbird – el mirlo
Bluebird – el azulejo
Bug / Insect – el bicho
Bull – el toro
Butterfly – la mariposa
Cat – el gato. Kitten – el gatito
Caterpillar – la oruga
Chicken – el pollo
Cockroach – la cucaracha
Cow – la vaca
Crab – el cangrejo
Dog – el perro. Puppy – el perrito / el cachorro
Dolphin – el delfin
Donkey – el burro
Dragonfly – la libelula
Duck – al pato
Eagle – el águila
Eel – la anguila
Fly – la mosca
Giraffe – la girafa
Goat – la cabra
Goose – la oca / el ganso
Gorilla – el gorila
Hamster – la marmota / la rata del trigo
Horse – el caballo
Hyena – la hiena
Jellyfish – la medusa
Kangaroo – el canguro
Ladybird – la mariquita
Leopard – el leopardo
Lion – el leon
Llama- la llama
Lobster – la langosta
Mole – el topo
Monkey / ape – el mono
Mosquito – el mosquito
Moth – la polilla / La mariposa de nocturna
Mouse – el raton
Owl – la lechuza
Peacock – el pavo real
Penguin – el pingüino
Pig – el cerdo
Rabbit – el conejo
Reindeer – el reno
Robin – el petirrojo
Seagull – la gaviota
Sheep / lamb – el cordero
Tiger – el tigre
Turkey – el pavo
Wasp – la avispa
Weasel – la comadreja
Zebra – la cebra
Of course this is only a teeny fraction of the animal names in Spanish – so feel free to add more by leaving a comment below! If you can’t think of any, grab the nearest Spanish kiddie and ask them! Obviously we’re not suggesting child abduction here – stick to who you know.
Elle, along with Alan, is the owner of Spain Buddy and the busy web design business – Spain Web Design by Gandy-Draper.
Born a “Norverner”, she then spent most of her life “Dann Saff” before moving to Spain in 2006. Elle’s loves are Alan, the internet, dogs, good food, and dry white wine – although not necessarily in that order.
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worldalpacablog
February 18, 2013 @ 10:30 am
Alpaca is Alpaca, but only because they don’t really know what they are. Llama is llama too!
Elle
February 18, 2013 @ 10:43 am
Thanks for that – I shall pop them in the list anyway xx
john b
February 18, 2013 @ 10:40 am
Mariposa butterfly, Libelula dragonfly. Vespa wasp.
Elle
February 18, 2013 @ 10:46 am
Cheers John! Now added. I should have had mariposa anyway, as I use that as a greeting so often :D x
Mo
March 7, 2013 @ 7:00 pm
Wasp is avispa, folks! And it´s el águila because of the stressed “a” even though the gender is female, so, las águilas bonitas. Sorry to be such a snob …
Elle Draper
March 7, 2013 @ 7:21 pm
Damn those Spanish exceptions!! Is that always the case with a stressed vowel at the start of a word?
Thanks again Mo xxx
Mo
March 7, 2013 @ 7:23 pm
Here I am again, the Grammatator! Can´t remember if it´s always that way (been out of a classroom for too long) but yes, a buncha them exist! It´s to avoid saying la -a.
Elle Draper
March 7, 2013 @ 7:50 pm
Ah – that makes sense – thanks for the tip love! xxx
Kaley
March 7, 2013 @ 3:33 pm
A word for puppy is cachorro, no?
Elle Draper
March 7, 2013 @ 4:34 pm
Absolutely right!! I can’t believe I forgot to add that in.
Thanks Kaley… have amended it now.
Elle x
Brian McLean
August 4, 2013 @ 4:56 pm
John B used “vespa” which is wasp in Catalan, as somebody pointed out it’s “avispa” in Castlilian.
Dragonflies: there are two main types; those that when resting fold their wings vertically and those that keep them unfolded horizontally. In Catalan the latter are also libel·lules (please note that there ARE two “els” and they ARE separated with what is known as the “Catalan-middle-dot the letter itslef is called the “ela geminada”); but the former have the rather neat name of “espiadimonis” (demon spotters).
Ginny
February 28, 2014 @ 8:28 pm
Didn’t see FISH which is pez when alive and pescado when we eat it. Also may want to make note of other changes when we eat them–such as cochinillo (suckling pig).. Also, didn’t see DEER (venado I believe) or WOLF – lobo.
Ginny