The name ‘dinosaur’ was given to the animal fossils found by Richard Owen, a 19th century scientist. He believed the bones came from an entirely new species of animal, and called them dinosaurs, meaning ‘terrible lizard’. The name comes from the Greek words for terrible (deinos) and lizard (sauros). You’ll notice that many types of dinosaur have ‘saur’ or ‘saurus’ as part of their name too.

Hundreds of dinosaur fossils have been discovered since Richard Owen first found his examples. In fact, scientists are still finding new species today, and learning more about the species that have already been discovered. Since those early days in the 19th century, dinosaurs have been capturing the imaginations of generations, with stories, films and more being made about them. Indeed, if you’re looking for family things to do in the UK, you can learn more about dinosaurs at the Dinosaur World Live theatre show, which is on tour from 1 October 2024. In the meantime, let’s learn the names of some of the best-known dinosaurs and what they mean.

Tyrannosaurus Rex: T-Rex is one of the most famous dinosaurs thanks to its size, fearsome nature and array of sharp teeth. Tyrannosaurus means ‘tyrant lizard’ and rex is the Latin for ‘king’. So the name put together means ‘tyrant lizard king’.

Triceratops: Triceratops is another well-known dinosaur, recognisable by the three horns on its head. In fact, the name triceratops describes exactly this, translating to ‘three horned face’.

Stegosaurus: Stegosaurus is named for the bony plates on its back, which resemble a roof or covering. The name comes from Greek and means ‘roof lizard’.

Diplodocus: Diplodocus is one of the best known sauropods - huge dinosaurs that walked on four legs and ate plants. Its name means ‘double beam’ and refers to the shape of the animal’s tail bones, which have a two-pronged structure in the middle.

Brontosaurus/Apatosaurus: Brontosaurus means ‘thunder lizard’. It was originally named in 1883 in reference to the animal’s sheer size. However, Brontosaurus’ name was recently changed to Apatosaurus, meaning ‘deceptive lizard’. This is because its bones were thought to belong to mosasaurs when they were first discovered.

Iguanodon: Iguanodon translates as ‘iguana teeth’. It was discovered in the 1820s by Mary Ann Mantell, who thought the dinosaur’s teeth looked like those of a modern iguana.

Velociraptor: The name Velociraptor comes from the Latin words for swift (velox) and robber (raptor), hence ‘swift robber’. It refers to the animal’s fast nature and carnivorous diet.

Oviraptor: Meaning ‘egg robber’, oviraptor was so named because the first fossils were found on top of a nest of eggs that scientists thought belonged to another dinosaur.

Segnosaurus: Not to be confused with Stegosaurus, Segnosaurus fossils were first scientifically described in 1979. The dinosaur is thought to have been slow moving and this led to its name, which means ‘slow lizard’.

Giraffatitan: Giraffatitan was one of the largest dinosaurs to walk the earth, and resembled a modern day giraffe, hence its name which means ‘giant giraffe’ in Greek.

If you’re looking for a family show near me, why not see if Dinosaur World Live is coming to your local theatre? Introducing kids to an exciting array of prehistoric beasts, it’s the perfect family theatre show thanks to a 50-minute run time, which caters to ages three and up. Book your tickets today!