Dinosaur Names And Their Meaning

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Check out our alphabetical list of names, their meanings, and some other cool facts!

The name ‘dinosaur’ itself means ‘terrible lizard’. The name was given to them by Richard Owen, a British Scientist. He studied animal fossils for several years, and belived that the bones came from a new group of animals – a group that at the time was unknown to science. He picked the word dinosaur by combining two Greek words – deinos (which means terrible), and sauros (which means lizard).

Many dinosaur fossils are still being discovered. They are normally named by the person who finds them, or by the paleontologist who confirms it is a new type. The name then has to be approved by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature.

They are often named according to where they were found, or something unusual about them. Sometimes their name reflects the type of dinosaur they are thought to be. Check out the list below to see the meanings of some of the the most common dinosaur names.

List of dinosaur names

Dinosaur Names		Meaning of Name
A
Albertosaurus		Alberta Lizard
Allosaurus		Different Lizard
Ankylosaurus		Stiff Lizard
Apatosaurus		Deceptive Lizard
B
Baryonyx		Heavy Claw
Brachiosaurus		Arm Lizard
C
Camarasaurus		Chambered lizard
Carnotaurus		Meat-eating bull
Coelophysis		Hollow Form
Compsognathus		Elegant Jaw
Corythosaurus		Helmet lizard
D
Deinonychus		Chambered lizard
Diplodocus		Double-beam lizard
E
Edmontosaurus		Lizard from Edmonton
Euoplocephalus		Well-armoured head
G
Gallimimus		Chicken-mimic
Gigantosaurus		Giant Southern Lizard
Giraffatitan		Giraffe Titan
H
Hypsilophodon		High Ridge Tooth
I
Iguanodon		Iguana tooth
J
Janenschia		Named after Werner Janensch
Jobaria		Jobar (a creature of Sahara legends)
K
Kentrosaurus		Spiked lizard
L
Lesothosaurus		Lizard from Lesotho
M
Macrurosaurus		Long Tailed Lizard
Maiasaura		Good Mother lizard
Mamenchisaurus		Mamen Brook Lizard
Megalosaurus		Great Lizard
Minmi		From Minmi Crossing
N
Notoceratops		Southern horned face
O
Ornithomimus		Bird Mimic
Oviraptor		Egg Thief
P
Pachycephalosaurus		Thick headed lizard
Parasaurolophus		Beside Saurolophus (another dinosaur)
Plateosaurus		Flat reptile
Protoceratops		First horned face
Psittacosaurus		Parrot Lizard
R
Riojasaurus		Lizard from Rioja
S
Saurolophus		The ridged lizard
Saurophaganax		Lizard eating master
Seismosaurus		Earth shaking lizard
Spinosaurus		Spine lizard
Stegosaurus		Roofed lizard
Stegoceras		Horned Roof
Styracosaurus		Spiked lizard
T
Triceratops		Three horned Face
Troodon		Wounded tooth
Tyrannosaurus		Tyrant lizard
Tyrannotitan		Tyrant Titan
V
Velociraptor		Quick plunderer
W
Wannanosaurus		Wannano lizard
X
Xiaosaurus		Dawn lizard
Y
Yangchuanosaurus		Yangchuan lizard
Z
Zigongosaurus		Zingong lizard