Animals in Welsh

In this article, we’ll be looking at the names for a variety of animals (anifeiliaid) in the Welsh language. Growing up in Wales, I loved my cathod (cats), but I also marvelled at interesting, exotic animals such as the eliffant or jiraff.

It’s true that Welsh doesn’t have a lot of original words for animals that our ancestors were unlikely to encounter – but don’t let that put you off from learning these new variations!

List of Zoo Animals in Welsh

To start with, here’s a list of popular zoo animals in Welsh. You might notice that many of them are very similar to their English counterparts! Let’s also point out that the welsh word for animal is “anifail”.

English	Welsh
Bear	Arth
Elephant	Eliffant
Giraffe	Jiraff
Hippopotamus	Hippopotamws
Lion	Llew
Panda	Panda
Penguin	Pengwin
Rhinoceros	Rhinoseros
Zebra	Sebra

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List of Farm Animals in Welsh

A shocking 88% of land area in Wales is used for agriculture, meaning that it’s hard to go anywhere in Wales without seeing farm animals – especially sheep! Here’s how to say a few common farm animals in Welsh:

English	Welsh
Bull	Tarw
Chicken	Iar
Cow	Buwch
Donkey	Asyn
Goat	Gafr
Horse	Ceffyl
Ram	Maharan
Rooster	Ceiliog
Sheep	Dafad

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List of Pets in Welsh

This list shows some of the common pets found in Wales and other Western countries that you may be interested in knowing.

English	Welsh
Cat	Cath
Dog	Ci
Goldfish	Pysgodyn aur
Guinea pig	Mochyn cwta
Hamster	Bochdew
Horse	Ceffyl
Mouse	Llygoden
Rabbit	Cwningen
Rat	Llygoden fawr

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List of Jungle Animals in Welsh

This list covers some of the animals that may have been missed in the “zoo animals” list – of course, the two often overlap. You’ll notice that most words are very similar to their English counterparts, seeing as most of these animals would not have been known to our Welsh ancestors.

English	Welsh
Gorilla	Gorila
Jaguar	Jagwar
Monkey	Mwnci
Parrot	Parot
Snake	Neidr
Tiger	Teigr
Toucan	Twcan

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List of Mythological Animals in Welsh

Finally, what would our list be without a trip into the world of imagination? Here are a few mythological animals in Welsh – including, of course, our most famous one.

English	Welsh
Centaur	Dynfarch
Dragon	Draig
Griffin	Griffin
Mermaid	Môrforwyn
Phoenix	Ffenics
Unicorn	Ungorn

There are also a few uniquely Welsh mythological creatures that you might be interested in, such as the Ceffyl Dwr (water-horse) or the Gwyllgi (a black dog with glowing red eyes said to be an omen of death) that you might like to look up to further your Welsh knowledge.

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Other Animals in Welsh

Here is a list of other common animal names in Welsh that don’t fall into the previous categories of pets, farm animals, zoo animals, jungle animals or mythological creatures.

English	Welsh
Badger	Mochyn daear
Beaver	Afanc
Bird	Aderyn
Deer	Carw
Fish	Pysgodyn
Fly	Pry
Frog	Broga
Fox	Llwynog
Spider	Corryn / pry copyn
Toad	Llyffant
Owl	Tylluan
Wolf	Blaidd

I hope these words will give you a good starting point when talking about animals in Welsh – but of course, this is only the beginning! Learning their plurals and how to pronounce them is something that will take time.