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

Source: Kids-Dinosaurs.com

Also read: Dinosaur Names