Three young piglets walking toward the camera across short green grass

October 5, 2026 Jessica Northrup

How Well Do You Know Names of Baby Animals?

A gosling is a young goose, a cygnet is a young swan, and a joey is “a baby animal especially : a baby kangaroo,” according to Merriam-Webster. This list gives the name for each young animal below, with the dictionary line for it, and a short quiz follows the list.

What's In A Name?

A certain connection is created when you correctly identify a young animal.

Several of these names cover more than one animal. Merriam-Webster gives pup for a dog and also for a seal or rat, cub for a bear, fox, lion, or shark, and kit for a beaver, fox, or raccoon. The entries below say which.

List Of Common Baby Animal Names

Gosling

Merriam-Webster defines a gosling as “a young goose.” Merriam-Webster traces the word to the Middle English gos, which means goose, and dates its first known use to the 14th century.

Pup / Puppy

Merriam-Webster defines pup as “a young dog also : one of the young of various animals (such as a seal or rat).” It defines puppy as “a young domestic dog specifically : one less than a year old.” The dictionary lists pup as short for puppy, and gives 1542 as the first known use of pup and 1567 as the first known use of puppy. It traces puppy to the Middle English popi, from the Middle French poupée, which means doll or toy.

Pups or puppies are the young of dogs.

Kitten

Merriam-Webster defines a kitten as “a young cat also : an immature or young individual of various other small mammals.” Merriam-Webster traces the word to the Middle English kitoun, from an Anglo-French word that is a diminutive of cat, and dates its first known use to the 14th century.

Piglet

Merriam-Webster defines a piglet as “a small usually young swine.”

A piglet is a young pig. This adorable creature is even sometimes kept as a household pet!

Calf

Merriam-Webster gives two meanings for a young animal. The first is “the young of the domestic cow also : that of a closely related mammal (such as a bison).” The second is “the young of various large animals (such as the elephant or whale).” The dictionary traces the word through Middle English to the Old English cælf.

Tadpole

Merriam-Webster defines a tadpole as “a larval amphibian specifically : a frog or toad larva that has a rounded body with a long tail bordered by fins and external gills soon replaced by internal gills and that undergoes a metamorphosis to the adult.” Merriam-Webster traces the word to the Middle English taddepol, from tode, which means toad, plus polle, which means head, and dates its first known use to the 15th century.

Chick

Merriam-Webster gives two bird meanings for chick: “a domestic chicken especially : one newly hatched” and “the young of any bird.” The dictionary traces the word to the Middle English chyke, an alteration of chiken, and dates its first known use to the 15th century.

Cub

Merriam-Webster defines a cub as “a young carnivorous mammal (such as a bear, fox, or lion)” and also as “a young shark.” Merriam-Webster says the word is probably akin to the Middle English cobbe, which means a leader of a group or a head, and dates its first known use to 1530.

Duckling

Merriam-Webster defines a duckling as “a young duck.”

Hatchling

Merriam-Webster defines a hatchling as “a recently hatched animal.”

Unique Animal Offspring Names

Joey

Merriam-Webster marks joey as an Australian word and defines it as “a baby animal especially : a baby kangaroo.” It dates the first known use to 1839 and lists the origin as unknown.

Cygnet

Merriam-Webster defines a cygnet as “a young swan.” The dictionary traces the word to the Middle English sygnett, from the Anglo-French cignet, from cigne, which means swan, and dates its first known use to the 15th century.

Fawn

Merriam-Webster defines a fawn as “a young deer especially : one still unweaned or retaining a distinctive baby coat.” Merriam-Webster traces this noun to the Middle English foun, from an Anglo-French word that means the young of an animal, and dates its first known use to the 14th century.

Cria

Merriam-Webster defines a cria as “a baby llama, alpaca, vicuña, or guanaco.”

Have you ever wondered what a baby alpaca is called? They're crias! Named by the Spanish based on its crying "mwa" sounds, crias are alpaca younglings that look so pure for this world.

Kit

Have you ever seen a baby fox wander on your yard? Merriam-Webster defines a kit as “a young or undersized fur-bearing animal (such as a beaver, fox, or raccoon),” so a young fox is a kit.

Leveret

Merriam-Webster defines a leveret as “a hare in its first year.” The word comes from Middle English and Anglo-French, where it meant a hare skin, and the dictionary dates its first known use to the 15th century.

Baby Horse Names: Foal, Colt, And Filly

Merriam-Webster defines a foal as “a young animal of the horse family especially : one under one year.” It defines a colt as “foal especially : a male foal” and also as “a young male horse that is usually not castrated and has not attained an arbitrarily designated age (such as four years).” It defines a filly as “a young female horse usually of less than four years.”

Merriam-Webster traces foal to the Middle English fole, from the Old English fola, and dates its first known use to before the 12th century. It traces colt to the Middle English and Old English and also dates it to before the 12th century. It traces filly to the Middle English fyly, from the Old Norse fylja, and dates its first known use to the 15th century.

Read more about baby horses and about baby animals with their moms.

Quick Quiz

Try these before you read the answers. Every answer is a name from the list above, and the dictionary line for each one is in its section.

What is a young deer, especially one still unweaned, called? Answer: a fawn.
What is a young swan called? Answer: a cygnet.
What is a hare in its first year called? Answer: a leveret.
What is a frog or toad larva called? Answer: a tadpole.
What is a baby llama, alpaca, vicuña, or guanaco called? Answer: a cria.
What is a young shark called? Answer: a cub.
What is a young fur-bearing animal such as a beaver, fox, or raccoon called? Answer: a kit.
What is a baby kangaroo called? Answer: a joey.
What is a young female horse usually of less than four years called? Answer: a filly.
What is a young goose called? Answer: a gosling.
What is a recently hatched animal called? Answer: a hatchling.
What is a young domestic dog less than a year old called? Answer: a puppy.

FAQs

Which baby animal names cover more than one animal?

Merriam-Webster's entries show pup for a dog, seal, or rat, cub for a bear, fox, lion, or shark, calf for a cow, bison, elephant, or whale, and chick for any young bird.

Where can I find another quiz about baby animal names?

There is a quiz from the National Wildlife Federation.

Sources

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