Baby Animal Names in Different Languages

English has unique baby animal names, but what about other languages? Let's explore!

Spanish

EnglishBaby NameSpanish Baby Name
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CowCalfTernero
DogPuppyCachorro
CatKittenGatito
HorseFoalPotro
SheepLambCordero

French

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CowCalfVeau
DogPuppyChiot
CatKittenChaton
DuckDucklingCaneton
RabbitBunnyLapereau

German

EnglishBaby NameGerman Baby Name
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CowCalfKalb
DogPuppyWelpe
CatKittenKätzchen
PigPigletFerkel
HorseFoalFohlen

Japanese

EnglishBaby NameJapanese Baby Name
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CowCalf子牛 (koushi)
DogPuppy子犬 (koinu)
CatKitten子猫 (koneko)
BirdChickひな (hina)

Interesting Patterns

Spanish uses "-ito" and "-illo" suffixes (gatito = little cat)

French uses "-on" and "-eau" suffixes (chaton = little cat)

German uses "-chen" suffix (Kätzchen = little cat)

Japanese uses the prefix "子" (ko = child) before the animal name

English is unique in having completely different words for baby animals — most other languages use diminutive forms of the adult name!