Dinosaur Name Generator

Every dinosaur name is a genus in binomial (Linnaean) nomenclature, built mostly from Greek and Latin roots. The suffix -saurus means lizard, -raptor means thief or plunderer, -ceratops means horned face, -mimus means mimic, and -venator means hunter. The front half usually describes a feature (Tri-ceratops, three-horned face; Pachy-cephalo-saurus, thick-headed lizard), a place (Alberto-saurus, Utah-raptor, Patago-titan), or a person (Leaellyna-saura, named after paleontologist Tom Rich's daughter). Some borrow local languages, like Tarchia (Mongolian for brainy) and Zhuchengtyrannus.

The 200 names here are all real genera, spanning the Triassic (Eoraptor, Herrerasaurus, Coelophysis) through the late Cretaceous (Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, Ankylosaurus). They cover the major groups: theropods from Compsognathus to Giganotosaurus, long-necked sauropods including record holders Argentinosaurus and Dreadnoughtus, armored ankylosaurs and stegosaurs, horned ceratopsians, duck-billed hadrosaurs, and dome-headed pachycephalosaurs. Names that were later sunk into other genera, such as Seismosaurus, are left out; Brontosaurus is included because a 2015 study restored it as a valid genus.

Use the list to pick a study subject, seed a worldbuilding bestiary, name a Jurassic World Evolution exhibit, or find a lesser-known favorite beyond the usual T. rex.