Perhaps you’ve just seen a baby rabbit, or even an adult one, and you’re wondering what are baby rabbits called? Well, in this article we’re going to go through the names of baby rabbits, along with why they’re called these baby rabbit names and how they got their names.
First, here’s the quick answer, and then we’ll get into the details…
What Are Baby Rabbits Called? Baby rabbits are called “kittens” just like baby cats. This gives rise to other names like “kits” and “kitties”. Baby rabbits are also called “Bunnies” unofficially. The word “bunny” is also believed to have come from the word “Coney”. Historically, even the word “Rabbits” was also applied to baby rabbits.
Baby animals are some of the cutest things you’ll ever see, they have such a wide appeal. But it’s actually quite often that we refer to these cute creatures using the right name.
Sometimes it may even surprise you that some animals do have a different name for their young ones – like rabbits. So to understand more about this, let’s dive right in.
Read on, or watch the video below from the Ranger Planet Youtube Channel.
What are baby rabbits called?
The standard or commonly accepted “official name” for baby rabbits is “Kittens”. This has given rise to other names for baby rabbits like “Kits” or “Kitty”.
But one of the most common names that we use globally for baby rabbits is “bunnies” or “bunny”. While names like “kitty” and anything that starts with Kit come as a corrupted form of the original name for baby rabbits “kittens”, the bunny has quite an interesting history to it.
If you have a new baby rabbit, then check out my list of 100 rabbit names and their meanings.
How baby rabbits got different names?
Bunny is a famous name used for baby rabbits, mostly used by children. This is the most common and informal name baby rabbits are referred to.
But regarding the origin of the word bunny… bunny was, in the past used to describe a young girl (rightly or wrongly!). Over time though, it was adapted to refer to young, cute and small animals like rabbits, and now baby rabbits completely own this name.
The word bunny also has another history …back in the 18th century. Where the common words used to name rabbits – be it from adults to baby rabbits – were “Coney”. The name “coney” was mispronounced as “cunny”.
This mispronunciation, along with the rise of a word that sounds similar to “Coney”, which was popularly used for vulgarity meant people avoided using the word coney to refer to rabbits.
Eventually, people tried different rhyming and alternative names and finally “coney” turned to “bunny”.
But during this time “bunny” was in general used to name both baby and adult rabbits. Whereas now it’s used mainly for referring to baby rabbits.
As another surprise, some also say the word ”Rabbit” in fact was used to call “baby rabbits” for “young hares” and not adult rabbits.
Somehow along the way, these words have been known to switch and now “rabbits” are the common terms for this animal, be it for adults or young ones.
How are rabbits called for different ages?
A rabbit remains a baby until it grows to around 9 months, after which it becomes an adult. Rabbits remain adults until 4-5 years of age, and when they grow older they become …elderly rabbits … of course!
On average rabbits live up to 10-12 years of age.
When taking the names for rabbits in general for referring to males and females, the females are called “does” and males are called” bucks”. Whereas when taking parent rabbits, the mother rabbit is called “The Dam” and the father rabbit is called “The Sire”.
Pick your next baby rabbit name based on the meaning of the name.
Learning resources
If you’re considering keeping Rabbits as pets, then here are a couple of resources from Amazon that will help you in understanding more about how to raise Rabbits to enjoy them as Pets or to immerse yourself in Rabbit culture even more.
The Everything Pet Rabbit handbook
It’s said to be good luck to carry a Rabbit’s foot as a symbol. Here’s the one we’ve selected from Amazon, we hope it brings you good fortune!
Real Rabbit Fur Rabbits Foot Keychain
Video resources
Bunnies are just so cute! Here’s a video outlining the content of the article.
To finish then…
We hope this has helped you to know what to call a rabbit and certainly for baby rabbits at the right time in their lives and the right gender. Rabbits’ names have changed quite a bit throughout history, but I think we’re safe to use the name for baby rabbits as “bunny” or plural “Bunnies” for a long time to come.
This content has been checked and verified by a qualified veterinary practitioner. The article has been reviewed by our editorial board and has been approved for publication in accordance with our editorial policy.