# Besides Humans \[Colloquially\] And Goats, Do Any Animals Have "Kids" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 12, 2018, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-humans-colloquially-and-goats-do-any-animals-have-kids/812298 "2018-04-12T16:01:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-humans-colloquially-and-goats-do-any-animals-have-kids/812298/1 "2018-04-12T16:01:15Z")
Are any other animals’ young referred to as “kids,” or is it just goats and humans (colloquially, of course, w/r/t humans)? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-humans-colloquially-and-goats-do-any-animals-have-kids/812298/2 "2018-04-12T16:45:09Z")
Wikipedia says that a young ibex is called a ‘kid’. [List of animal names - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_animal_names) That’s the only one I’ve found, besides the young goat, after a lot of googling. Ibexes do cross-breed with goats, by the way. Which may account for the nomenclature. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-humans-colloquially-and-goats-do-any-animals-have-kids/812298/3 "2018-04-12T16:48:27Z")
I found one [site](https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2011/05/09/baby-animal-names/) that said young roe deer are called kids. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-humans-colloquially-and-goats-do-any-animals-have-kids/812298/4 "2018-04-12T17:21:37Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Ibexes do cross-breed with goats, by the way. Which may account for the nomenclature. Ibexes are a kind of wild goat, in the same genus as domestic goats (_Capra_), so they are not really an exception. There are several other species of wild goats, and it would be proper to refer to the offspring of all of them as kids. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-humans-colloquially-and-goats-do-any-animals-have-kids/812298/5 "2018-04-12T18:20:03Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Ibexes are a kind of wild goat, in the same genus as domestic goats (_Capra_), so they are not really an exception. There are several other species of wild goats, and it would be proper to refer to the offspring of all of them as kids. I concur! Which means thus far the only exception we’ve found to the “kids must be juvenile offspring of goats” is the roe deer. Or will you tell me something surprising about roe deer now?? :dubious: 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-humans-colloquially-and-goats-do-any-animals-have-kids/812298/6 "2018-04-12T18:48:55Z")
n.m. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-humans-colloquially-and-goats-do-any-animals-have-kids/812298/7 "2018-04-12T18:51:48Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Or will you tell me something surprising about roe deer now?? :dubious: I shall indeed!😃 I was initially puzzled by the fact that the young are called “kids,” but a little googling suggests the reason. Although a true deer and not related to goats, the roe deer is apparently regarded as being somewhat goatlike, perhaps because of its small size and agility. Linnaeus named it _Capreolus capreolus_, derived from _Capra_ and meaning “little goat.” Its [names in other European languages](http://www.wordsense.eu/capreolus/) apparently have the same derivation. [This article](http://www.looduskalender.ee/n/en/node/945), evidently an Estonian site, indicates the name in that language is “metskits,” meaning “forest goat,” with “kits” being derived from the German “kitz.” Another fun fact to amaze your friends with: In the [original novel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bambi,_a_Life_in_the_Woods) of _Bambi_, he was a Roe Deer, and hence a kid rather than a fawn. His species was changed by Disney to Mule Deer for the American audience. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-humans-colloquially-and-goats-do-any-animals-have-kids/812298/8 "2018-04-12T21:19:54Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I shall indeed!😃 And you most certainly did! I’m impressed. I shall turn to you first in all future matters capric, and move you into the _esteemed expert_ category in the dusty corridors of my mind’s storage system. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-humans-colloquially-and-goats-do-any-animals-have-kids/812298/9 "2018-04-12T22:23:55Z")
Roe, a deer, a little goat… ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2018, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-humans-colloquially-and-goats-do-any-animals-have-kids/812298/10 "2018-04-13T11:43:11Z")
Mountain goats have kids, but zoologically speaking they’re not actually members of the goat genus _Capra_. (The ibex, mentioned upthread, is a member of that genus.) That’s a pretty fine technicality, though. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2018, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-humans-colloquially-and-goats-do-any-animals-have-kids/812298/11 "2018-04-13T14:39:31Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > His species was changed by Disney to Mule Deer for the American audience. As I kid, I recall watching Disney documentaries back in the 80s where they talked about the research that the Disney animators would do in order to be able to draw all of the animals in their movies, and they enjoyed going out into nature or to a zoo to perform their studies. I’d suspect that it’s less about targeting American audiences and more to do with local availability of the animal to go look at. (Hypothesis.) ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2018, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-humans-colloquially-and-goats-do-any-animals-have-kids/812298/12 "2018-04-13T14:47:34Z")
It sounds like the word for human children derives from the goat word. Which would make sense if you’ve ever watched goat kids fool around. The only equivalently silly and impudent young animal would be a foal.