Animal Names in Spanish: 150+ Essential Terms with Pronunciation

Key takeaways

• Every animal name in Spanish has a grammatical gender (masculine or feminine) that must be learned with the word, not guessed from the animal’s biological sex.
• Some animals have distinct masculine and feminine forms (el perro / la perra, el gato / la gata); others use a single word for both (la jirafa refers to both male and female giraffes).
• Animal vocabulary in Spanish appears constantly in everyday life: food menus, nature conversations, children’s books, idioms, and descriptions of rural or urban environments.
• Many animal names are false cognates or near-cognates: el pato is duck (not “pat”), la mosca is fly (not “mosquito”), and el murciélago is the tongue-twisting word for bat.

Knowing animal names in Spanish unlocks far more than nature conversations. Animal vocabulary appears in idioms (ser una hormiga = to be hardworking, like an ant), in food (el cerdo / el puerco for pork), in describing neighborhoods (hay muchas palomas = there are many pigeons), and in any conversation with children, who use animal words constantly.

This guide covers 150+ animal names in Spanish organized by category, with grammatical gender, pronunciation notes, and the secondary vocabulary that makes animal descriptions useful rather than just encyclopedic.

Passive recognition of animal vocabulary, knowing el tiburón when you see it, is different from producing it in a story about a trip, a conversation about a pet, or a discussion about food. The difference between those two skills is spoken practice.

italki has matched 10M+ learners with teachers across 150+ languages since 2007, and has Spanish teachers who build vocabulary through real conversation topics rather than word lists. Find a Spanish tutor and practice this vocabulary in real sentences, not just recognition.

Pets and domestic animals

English	Spanish	Gender	Pronunciation
Dog	perro / perra	masculine / feminine	PEH-rroh / PEH-rrah
Cat	gato / gata	masculine / feminine	GAH-toh / GAH-tah
Fish	pez (alive) / pescado (food)	masculine	PETH / pes-KAH-doh
Bird	pájaro	masculine	PAH-hah-roh
Rabbit	conejo	masculine	koh-NEH-hoh
Hamster	hámster	masculine	AHM-ster
Guinea pig	cobaya / conejillo de Indias	feminine / masculine	koh-BAH-yah
Turtle	tortuga	feminine	tor-TOO-gah
Parrot	loro / cotorra	masculine / feminine	LOH-roh / koh-TOH-rah
Goldfish	pez dorado	masculine	PETH doh-RAH-doh
Mouse	ratón	masculine	rah-TOHN
Rat	rata	feminine	RAH-tah
Ferret	hurón	masculine	oo-ROHN

Note on pez vs. pescado: Un pez is a living fish swimming in water. El pescado is fish as food. Asking for pez at a restaurant would be odd; you ask for pescado.

Farm animals

English	Spanish	Gender	Pronunciation
Horse	caballo	masculine	kah-BAH-yoh
Mare (female horse)	yegua	feminine	YEH-gwah
Cow	vaca	feminine	BAH-kah
Bull	toro	masculine	TOH-roh
Pig	cerdo / chancho (LatAm)	masculine	SEHR-doh / CHAHN-choh
Sheep	oveja	feminine	oh-BEH-hah
Ram (male sheep)	carnero	masculine	kar-NEH-roh
Goat	cabra	feminine	KAH-brah
Goat (male)	chivo	masculine	CHEE-boh
Chicken (female)	gallina	feminine	gah-YEE-nah
Rooster	gallo	masculine	GAH-yoh
Chick	pollito	masculine	poh-YEE-toh
Turkey	pavo	masculine	PAH-boh
Duck	pato / pata	masculine / feminine	PAH-toh / PAH-tah
Goose	ganso / oca	masculine / feminine	GAHN-soh / OH-kah
Donkey	burro	masculine	BOO-rroh
Mule	mula	feminine	MOO-lah
Rabbit (farm)	conejo	masculine	koh-NEH-hoh
Dog (herding)	perro pastor	masculine	PEH-rroh pahs-TOR
Bee	abeja	feminine	ah-BEH-hah

Understanding farm animal vocabulary also unlocks food vocabulary: la carne de cerdo (pork), la carne de vaca (beef), el pollo (chicken as food), el jamón (ham, from el cerdo).

Wild animals: mammals

English	Spanish	Gender	Pronunciation
Lion	león	masculine	leh-OHN
Lioness	leona	feminine	leh-OH-nah
Tiger	tigre	masculine	TEE-greh
Elephant	elefante	masculine	eh-leh-FAHN-teh
Bear	oso / osa	masculine / feminine	OH-soh / OH-sah
Wolf	lobo / loba	masculine / feminine	LOH-boh / LOH-bah
Fox	zorro / zorra	masculine / feminine	SOH-rroh / SOH-rrah
Deer	ciervo / venado	masculine	SYEHR-boh / beh-NAH-doh
Deer (female)	cierva	feminine	SYEHR-bah
Rabbit (wild)	conejo	masculine	koh-NEH-hoh
Hare	liebre	feminine	LYEH-breh
Monkey	mono / mona	masculine / feminine	MOH-noh / MOH-nah
Gorilla	gorila	masculine	goh-REE-lah
Giraffe	jirafa	feminine	hee-RAH-fah
Zebra	cebra	feminine	SEH-brah
Hippo	hipopótamo	masculine	ee-poh-POH-tah-moh
Rhinoceros	rinoceronte	masculine	ree-noh-seh-ROHN-teh
Crocodile	cocodrilo	masculine	koh-koh-DREE-loh
Bat	murciélago	masculine	moor-SYEH-lah-goh
Squirrel	ardilla	feminine	ar-DEE-yah
Hedgehog	erizo	masculine	eh-REE-soh
Otter	nutria	feminine	NOO-tryah
Beaver	castor	masculine	kahs-TOR
Coyote	coyote	masculine	koh-YOH-teh
Jaguar	jaguar	masculine	hah-GWAHR
Puma / Cougar	puma	masculine	POO-mah
Llama	llama	feminine	YAH-mah
Alpaca	alpaca	feminine	ahl-PAH-kah

Murciélago (bat) is one of the most pronunciation-challenging animal words in Spanish. The word contains all five Spanish vowels in order: u, i, e, a, o. It is sometimes used as a memory test for Spanish vowel pronunciation.

Working through the longer or trickier animal names with a private Spanish tutor means getting immediate correction on pronunciation before a habit forms. Murciélago, rinoceronte, and hipopótamo are all words where the stress and vowel pattern trip learners.

The gender system behind animal nouns follows the same rules as all Spanish nouns, and reviewing those patterns makes the macho/hembra distinction and the irregular article-noun gender mismatches easier to internalize.

Birds

English	Spanish	Gender	Pronunciation
Eagle	águila	feminine (but takes el in singular: el águila)	AH-gwee-lah
Owl	búho	masculine	BOO-oh
Parrot	loro	masculine	LOH-roh
Flamingo	flamenco	masculine	flah-MEHN-koh
Pelican	pelícano	masculine	peh-LEE-kah-noh
Penguin	pingüino	masculine	peen-GWEE-noh
Swan	cisne	masculine	SEES-neh
Peacock	pavo real	masculine	PAH-boh reh-AHL
Crow	cuervo	masculine	KWEHR-boh
Sparrow	gorrión	masculine	goh-RRYOHN
Canary	canario	masculine	kah-NAH-ryoh
Hummingbird	colibrí	masculine	koh-lee-BREE
Woodpecker	pájaro carpintero	masculine	PAH-hah-roh kar-peen-TEH-roh
Stork	cigüeña	feminine	see-GWEH-nyah
Pigeon	paloma / pichón	feminine / masculine	pah-LOH-mah / pee-CHOHN
Seagull	gaviota	feminine	gah-BYOH-tah
Hawk	halcón	masculine	ahl-KOHN
Vulture	buitre	masculine	BWEE-treh
Toucan	tucán	masculine	too-KAHN

Note on el águila: Águila is a feminine noun, but it takes the masculine article el in the singular to avoid the awkward sound of “la á-” with two adjacent a sounds (la águila is grammatically possible but el águila is standard). In the plural: las águilas.

Reptiles and amphibians

English	Spanish	Gender	Pronunciation
Snake	serpiente / culebra	feminine	ser-PYEHN-teh / koo-LEH-brah
Lizard	lagarto / lagartija	masculine / feminine	lah-GAR-toh / lah-gar-TEE-hah
Chameleon	camaleón	masculine	kah-mah-leh-OHN
Gecko	gecko / salamanquesa	masculine / feminine	GHEH-koh / sah-lah-mahn-KEH-sah
Frog	rana	feminine	RAH-nah
Toad	sapo	masculine	SAH-poh
Salamander	salamandra	feminine	sah-lah-MAHN-drah
Turtle	tortuga	feminine	tor-TOO-gah
Iguana	iguana	feminine	ee-GWAH-nah
Alligator	caimán	masculine	kah-ee-MAHN

Note the distinction between lagarto (larger lizard) and lagartija (small lizard, gecko-type). The diminutive -ija suffix signals small size.

Sea creatures

English	Spanish	Gender	Pronunciation
Fish	pez	masculine	PETH
Shark	tiburón	masculine	tee-boo-ROHN
Whale	ballena	feminine	bah-YEH-nah
Dolphin	delfín	masculine	del-FEEN
Octopus	pulpo	masculine	POOL-poh
Squid	calamar	masculine	kah-lah-MAR
Jellyfish	medusa	feminine	meh-DOO-sah
Lobster	langosta	feminine	lahn-GOHS-tah
Crab	cangrejo	masculine	kahn-GREH-hoh
Shrimp	camarón / gamba	masculine (LatAm) / feminine (Spain)	kah-mah-ROHN / GAHM-bah
Starfish	estrella de mar	feminine	es-TREH-yah deh MAR
Sea turtle	tortuga marina	feminine	tor-TOO-gah mah-REE-nah
Eel	anguila	feminine	ahn-GEE-lah
Seahorse	caballito de mar	masculine	kah-bah-YEE-toh deh MAR
Clam	almeja	feminine	ahl-MEH-hah
Oyster	ostra	feminine	OHS-trah

Camarón is the standard Latin American word for shrimp; gamba is the standard word in Spain. Menu vocabulary varies by country, and knowing both is useful for travel.

Insects and small creatures

English	Spanish	Gender	Pronunciation
Butterfly	mariposa	feminine	mah-ree-POH-sah
Bee	abeja	feminine	ah-BEH-hah
Ant	hormiga	feminine	or-MEE-gah
Spider	araña	feminine	ah-RAH-nyah
Mosquito	mosquito	masculine	mohs-KEE-toh
Fly	mosca	feminine	MOHS-kah
Cockroach	cucaracha	feminine	koo-kah-RAH-chah
Worm	gusano	masculine	goo-SAH-noh
Caterpillar	oruga	feminine	oh-ROO-gah
Grasshopper	saltamontes	masculine	sahl-tah-MOHN-tehs
Cricket	grillo	masculine	GREE-yoh
Dragonfly	libélula	feminine	lee-BEH-loo-lah
Ladybug	mariquita	feminine	mah-ree-KEE-tah
Beetle	escarabajo	masculine	es-kah-rah-BAH-hoh
Snail	caracol	masculine	kah-rah-KOHL

Gender patterns in Spanish animal names

Animal gender in Spanish follows several patterns.

Pattern 1: Distinct forms for male and female

• el perro / la perra (dog)
• el gato / la gata (cat)
• el lobo / la loba (wolf)
• el oso / la osa (bear)

Pattern 2: One fixed gender for both sexes (generic term)

• la jirafa (giraffe, masculine or feminine individual)
• la tortuga (turtle, regardless of sex)
• el tiburón (shark, regardless of sex)

For these, you add macho or hembra to specify: una jirafa macho (a male giraffe), un tiburón hembra (a female shark).

Pattern 3: Irregular gender (masculine noun, feminine article in singular)

• el águila (eagle): grammatically feminine, but takes el in singular

Animal vocabulary in context: idioms, food, and descriptions

Idioms using animal names:

• Ser una hormiga (to be an ant) = to be hardworking and thrifty
• Hacer el ganso (to act like a goose) = to clown around, act foolishly
• Ser un lobo solitario = to be a lone wolf
• Tener memoria de pez = to have the memory of a fish (very short memory)
• A caballo regalado no le mires el diente = don’t look a gift horse in the mouth

Food vocabulary linked to animals:

• el cerdo (pig) = la carne de cerdo (pork), el jamón (ham), el chorizo
• la vaca (cow) = la carne de res / carne de vaca (beef)
• el pollo (rooster/chicken in food context) = chicken meat
• el pavo (turkey) = turkey meat
• el pato (duck) = duck meat

From recognition to real conversation

This list gives the building blocks. Using animal vocabulary in natural conversation, telling a story about a pet, describing an experience in nature, reading a menu, understanding a children’s book, requires having these words available at speed.

Vocabulary lists create recognition; conversation creates retrieval. A Spanish teacher can run a session where you describe your pets, talk about animals from your country, or work through a market or menu dialogue where food-animal vocabulary comes up naturally.

italki has 30,000+ teachers across 150+ languages, including Spanish teachers who embed vocabulary into real conversational topics rather than drilling lists. Try a trial lesson and bring a topic, a pet story, a recent trip, an animal you find interesting. Good conversation makes vocabulary stick.

Many of the animal cognates in this guide also appear in the broader Spanish cognates set, which gives English speakers a larger vocabulary head start than most realize.

FAQ

How do you say “dog” and “cat” in Spanish?

Dog is perro (masculine) or perra (feminine). Cat is gato (masculine) or gata (feminine). The masculine form (perro, gato) is also used as the generic term when the sex is unspecified.

Do Spanish animal names have grammatical gender?

Yes. Every Spanish noun has a grammatical gender, and animal names are no exception. Some have distinct forms for male and female (el lobo / la loba); others use one fixed form for both (la jirafa, el tiburón) with macho/hembra added when biological sex matters.

What is the Spanish word for bat (animal)?

El murciélago (masculine). It is notable for containing all five Spanish vowels: u, i, e, a, o. Pronunciation: moor-SYEH-lah-goh.

What is the difference between pez and pescado? Pez refers to a live fish in water. Pescado refers to fish as caught food or as a dish. At a market or restaurant, you ask for pescado, not pez.

Are there animal names that are false cognates with English?

Several. El pato (duck) looks like “pat.” La mosca (fly) is not “mosquito” (which is el mosquito in Spanish, but refers to the same insect). El ciervo (deer) has no clear English resemblance. Learning the words that do not look like their English equivalents early prevents early errors.