Animals in Japanese - List of 140 Names

If you watch anime, you might know that a neko 猫 is a "cat" and that an inu 犬 is a "dog", but what about the others? What are the animals' names in Japanese? Well, I've put together a list of them!

Before the list, though, the word for "animal" in Japanese is doubutsu 動物, written with the kanji for "move" and "thing," so, animals are literally "moving things." And a "zoo" is a called a doubutsu-en 動物園.

• Aardvark
  tsuchi-buta 土豚
• Alligator or Crocodile
  wani 鰐
• Alpaca
  arupaka アルパカ
• Ant
  ari 蟻
• Anteater
  ari-kui 蟻食い
• Antelope
  rei-you 羚羊
• Armadillo
  arumadjiro アルマジロ
  yoroi-nezumi 鎧鼠
• Ape or Monkey
  saru 猿
• Aye-aye
  yubi-zaru 指猿

The anteater, arikui, is literally "anteater." The armadillo, yoroi-nezumi, is literally "armored rat." And an Aye-aye in Japanese is literally "finger monkey."

• Baboon
  hihi 狒々
• Bat
  koumori 蝙蝠
• Bear
  kuma 熊
• Bee or Wasp
  hachi 蜂
• Beluga (White Whale)
  shroi-ruka 白海豚
• Beluga (European Sturgeon)
  oochou-zame 大蝶鮫
• Bird
  tori 鳥
• Boar
  shuton 種豚
• Bunny or Rabbit
  usagi 兎
• Butterfly
  chou 蝶
  chouchou 蝶々

Bee, hachi 蜂, is homonym to the number 8, hachi 八. "Honey" is hachimitsu 蜂蜜, by the way.

• Camel
  rakuda 駱駝
• Cat
  neko 猫
• Chicken
  niwatori 鶏
• Cheetah
  shuryouhyou 狩猟豹
• Cicada
  semi 蝉
• Cockroach
  gokiburi 蜚蠊
• Cow
  ushi 牛
• Crane
  tsuru 鶴
• Crocodile or Alligator
  wani 鰐
• Crow
  karasu 烏

(gokiburi are kimochiwarui!!! 気持ち悪い)

• Deer
  shika 鹿
• Dinosaur
  kyouryuu 恐竜
• Dog
  inu 犬
• Dolphin
  iruka 海豚
• Donkey
  roba 驢馬
  usagi-uma 兎馬
• Dove or Pigeon
  hato 鳩
  shiro-hato 白鳩
• Duck
  kamo 鴨

Chances are you'll see the kanji for deer used more to say baka 馬鹿 than used to say deer.

• Eagle
  washi 鷲
• Echidna
  hari-mogura 針土竜
• Eel
  una 鰻
  unagi 鰻
• Elephant
  zou 蔵
• Elk or Moose
  hera-jika 箆鹿

A moose is also sometimes called oojika 大鹿, literally "large deer."

• Falcon or Hawk
  taka 鷹
• Ferret
  shiroitachi 白鼬
• Fish
  sakana 魚
• Fly
  Hae 蝿
• Fox
  kitsune 狐
• Frog
  kaeru 蛙

Don't mistake kaeru 蛙, the "frog", with kaeru 帰る, "to go back [home]", or kaeru 変える, "to change", or kaeru 買える, "to be able to buy", or kaeru 替える, "to replace", or kaeru 飼える, "to be able to keep as a pet." (see Dogen's video about it)

• Gerbil (Mongolian)
  suna-nezumi 砂鼠
• Gerbil (Lesser, Egyptian)
  arechi-nezumi 荒地鼠
• Giraffe
  kirin 麒麟
  kirinza 麒麟座
• Gnat
  buyu 蚋
• Goat
  yagi 山羊
• Gnu
  ushikamoshika 牛羚羊
• Goose
  gachou 鵞鳥
• Gorilla
  Kondo Isao 近藤 勲 
  gorira ゴリラ
• Grasshopper
  batta 飛蝗
  hataori mushi 機織り虫
• Grouse
  raichou 雷鳥
• Guinea Pig
  tenjiku-nezumi 天竺鼠
• Gull
  kamome 鴎

The word "goose bumps" in Japanese is torihada 鳥肌 and it joins the kanji for "bird" and "skin". A goat is just a "mountain" "sheep".

• Hamster
  kinuge-nezumi 絹毛鼠
• Hawk or Falcon
  taka 鷹
• Hedgehog
  hari-nezumi 針鼠
• Heron
  heron 鷺
• Hippopotamus
  kaba 河馬
• Hog
  i 猪
• Honey Badger
  mitsu-ana-guma 蜜穴熊
• Hornet
  suzume-bachi 雀蜂
• Horse
  uma 馬
• Hound
  ryouken 猟犬
• Human
  ningen 人間
• Humming Bird
  hachi-dori 蜂鳥
• Hyena
  tategami-inu 鬣犬

A "honey badger" is literally a "honey hole bear." And a "humming" bird is literally a "bee bird".

• Insect or Worm
  mushi 虫
• Jay (Eurasian)
  kakesu 懸巣
• Jellyfish
  kurage 海月
• Kangaroo
  kangaruu カンガルー
• Koala
  koara コアラ
• Lark (Horned)
  hamahibari 浜雲雀
• Lemur
  kitsune-zaru 狐猿
• Leopard
  hyou 豹
• Llama
  rama ラマ
• Lion
  shishi 獅子
• Louse, Lice
  shirami 虱

What is a fox plus a monkey in Japanese? A lemur!!

• Moose or Elk
  hera-jika 箆鹿
• Mole
  mogura 土竜
• Monkey or Ape
  saru 猿
• Mosquito
  ka 蚊
• Mouse
  nezumi 鼠
• Mule
  raba 騾馬
• Muskrat
  nioi-nezumi 臭鼠
• Nightingale (Common)
  sayonaki-dori 小夜鳴き鳥
• Nightingale (Japanese)
  uguisu 鶯
  haru-dori 春鳥
  haru-tsuge-dori 春告鳥

The common nightingale is literally called "little night-chirping bird," while the Japanese nightingale is called either uguisu, a yellowish-green color, or haru-tsuge-dori, "Spring announcing bird," because its color is often uguisu and because its chirping is often heard through Japan in spring.

• Opossum
  fukuro-nezumi 袋鼠
• Ostrich
  dachou 駝鳥
• Otter (River)
  kawauso 川獺
• Otter (Sea)
  rakko 海獺
• Owl
  fukurou 梟
• Ox
  oushi 牡牛
  oushi 雄牛
• Oyster
  kaki 牡蠣

An Ox is literally a "male cow."

• Panda
  panda パンダ (yep, panda is panda)
• Parrot
  oumu 鸚鵡
• Peacock or Peafowl
  kujaku 孔雀
• Penguin
  pengin ペンギン
• Pig
  buta 豚
• Pigeon or Dove
  hato 鳩
• Platypus
  kamo-no-hashi 鴨の嘴
• Porcupine
  yama-arashi 山荒
• Porpoise (Common, Harbor)
  nezumi-iruka 鼠海豚
• Porpoise (Black Finless)
  sunameri 砂滑
• Porpoise (Spectacled)
  megane-iruka 眼鏡海豚
• Porpoise (Burmeister's)
  kohari-iruka 小針海豚
• Porpoise (Gulf)
  kogajira-nezumi-iruka 小頭鼠海豚
• Possum
  possamu ポッサム
• Pronghorn
  eda-tsuno-reiyou 枝角羚羊

To have a sense of porpoise, the common word is "rat dolphin", megane is "glasses" in Japanese, kohari means "small needles", and kogajira "small head" (can mean the manager of a part of an organization).

• Quail
  uzura 鶉
• Rabbit or Bunny
  usagi 兎
• Racoon
  tanuki 狸
• Rat
  nezumi 鼠
• Reindeer
  tonakai 馴鹿
• Rhinoceros
  sai 犀
• Rhinoceros Beetle
  kabuto-mushi 甲虫

A rhinoceros beetle is literally a "helmet insect".

• Sea Urchin
  uni 雲丹
• Seal or Walrus (Pinnipeds)
  kikiaru-rui 鰭脚類
• Shark
  same 鮫
• Sheep
  hitsuji 羊
• Skunk
  sukanku スカンク
• Snake or Serpent
  hebi 蛇
• Spider
  kumo 蜘蛛
• Squirrel (the flightless ones)
  risu 栗鼠
• Squirrel (Flying)
  momonga 鼯鼠
  musasabi 鼯鼠
• Swan
  hakuchou 白鳥

A swan literally stands for "white bird" in Japanese.

• Termite
  shiro-ari 白蟻
• Tiger
  tora 虎
• Toad
  hikigaeru 蟇蛙
• Trout
  masu 鱒
• Turkey
  shichimenchou 七面鳥
• Turtle
  kame 亀

A turkey is literally a "seven faces bird"!!

• Walrus or Seal  (Pinnipeds)
  kikiaru-rui 鰭脚類
• Wasp or Bee
  hachi 蜂
• Weasel
  itachi 鼬
• Whale
  kujira 鯨
• White Tiger
  byakko 白虎
• Wolf
  ookami 狼
• Wombat
  uonbatto ウォンバット
• Woodpecker
  kitsutsuki 啄木鳥
• Wren (Eurasian)
  misosazai 鷦鷯
• Yak
  yaku ヤク
• Zebra
  shima-uma 縞馬

(a special thanks to ZooBorns for the list of animal names)

For those learning Japanese, worry not about the kanji. Animal kanji are some of the most difficult kanji ever, so chances are you'll either find the animal names written in hiragana or with furigana.

Related Words

Since you're here anyway, a couple more words for you.

Pets

First off, the word for "pet" in Japanese is really just petto ペット. It's a loan word... they loaned "pet" from English and turned it into petto. Not that much interesting.

The "collars" pets wear are called kubiwa 首輪 in Japanese. That's literally "neck," kubi 首, and "ring," wa 輪, together. On the other side, the rings people wear on their "fingers," yubi 指, are called yubiwa 指輪.

In Japanese there's actually a verb for when "you take something as a pet," which is kau 飼う. From it you get words like "pet dog," kaiinu 飼い犬 and "pet cat," kaineko 飼い猫.

(don't mistake kau 飼う with kau 買う that means "to buy")

Puppy and Kitten

Together with the kanji 子 that's used for children, the words koinu 子犬 and koneko 子猫 are born, meaning "puppy" and "kitten" respectively. Really, though, that's just "child dog" and "child cat."

Nyaa ニャー and Wan ワン

The words nya ニャ, nyaa ニャー, nyan ニャン are the sounds cats make in Japanese, that is, they are like "meow." On the other side, wan ワン is the sound dogs make, like barking. (why nyaa and wan)

Also, nyanko にゃんこ and wanko わんこ are two cute ways to say cat and dog in Japanese. For added cuteness, throw in a chan ちゃん at the end, like nyanko-chan にゃんこちゃん.

(in Hajime no Ippo はじめの一歩, Ippo's pet dog is called Wanpo ワンポ, a mix of wanko with the po in Ippo's name)

From these words was also born this demoniac aberration fun website: http://www.nyan.cat/

Osu 雄 and Mesu 雌

When talking about people you use otoko 男 and onna 女 for "man" and "woman" respectively, but for animals, the words osu 雄 and mesu 雌 are used, meaning "male" and "female" respectively.

Body Parts

Another difference is that we people have "teeth," which are ha 歯, but animals have "fangs" which are called kiba 牙.

Animals also have "tails," which are called shippo 尻尾.

The nekomimi 猫耳 is a thing cats have, because they are cats, it means literally "cat ears," so obviously cats are going to have them. Actually people just call the cat's ears mimi 耳 when talking about them, nobody is going to ever say "the cat's cat ears" or neko no nekomimi 猫の猫耳.

Food

The food animals eat is called esa 餌. That can be pet food, lure, feed, whatever, it's called esa.

Share this post