# Why are children called "kids"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 20, 2001, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-children-called-kids/82802 "2001-09-20T15:37:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NutMagnet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@NutMagnet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NutMagnet)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-children-called-kids/82802/1 "2001-09-20T15:37:42Z")
Why are children called “kids”? Why not lambs, puppies, tadpoles, kittens, seedlings… ---
**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:** [September 20, 2001, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-children-called-kids/82802/2 "2001-09-20T16:04:17Z")
Ever get a whiff of a baby goat? ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-children-called-kids/82802/3 "2001-09-20T17:01:17Z")
Ever seen how baby goats behave? It’s uncanny. ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-children-called-kids/82802/4 "2001-09-20T18:26:57Z")
My big-ass dictionary ™ is not with me at the moment, but I’d venture to guess that it’s from the German ‘Kinder’, ‘child’. Perhaps it would be a better question to ask why baby goats are called ‘kids’. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-children-called-kids/82802/5 "2001-09-20T18:51:17Z")
**kid** _n._ **1.** [17C-late 18C] a child. **2.** [early 19C] a child of either sex, _esp._ a juvenile thief, known as ‘the kid…’ (followed by their surname). **3.** [19C+] a friend or fellow, often used in direct address. **4.** [late 19C-1970’s] (US prison) a catamite. **5.** [20C] (US) a young woman, used affectionally, _esp._ in direct address. **6.** [1920’s+] (orig. US) as _one’s kid_, one’s younger sibling. [SE _kid_, a young goat] **Source:** _Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang._ ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-children-called-kids/82802/6 "2001-09-20T18:56:27Z")
Damn. Having said all that, the _OED_ gives a date of 1690 and an origin of _low slang_. ---
**Author:** ![NutMagnet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@NutMagnet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NutMagnet)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-children-called-kids/82802/7 "2001-09-20T19:11:14Z")
1690??? Wow. I thought it was coined in the fifties. I can’t imagine George Washington calling Jacky, Patsy, Nelly and George, “the kids”. ---
**Author:** ![NutMagnet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@NutMagnet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NutMagnet)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-children-called-kids/82802/8 "2001-09-20T19:17:31Z")
1690??? Wow! I thought the term was coined in the fifties. I can’t imagine George Washington calling Jacky, Patsy, Nelly and George, “the kids”. ---
**Author:** ![Skelji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Skelji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skelji)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-children-called-kids/82802/9 "2001-09-20T19:41:48Z")
Why are children called “kids” ? Because it’s shorter than “Useless Eaters”. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![JFMichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/aeb1de/32.png) [@JFMichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JFMichael)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-children-called-kids/82802/10 "2001-09-20T19:55:20Z")
Now now, we’ll see who’s useless when you start needing someone to buy your “Oops I Crapped My Pants” for you. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-children-called-kids/82802/11 "2001-09-20T20:27:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SCSimmons \* > \*\*My big-ass dictionary ™ is not with me at the moment, but I’d venture to guess that it’s from the German ‘Kinder’, ‘child’. Perhaps it would be a better question to ask why baby goats are called ‘kids’. 🙂 \*\* I like this theory, especially as the German singular, _das Kind_ is not so far off and the pronunciation is quite similar. [sub] **Sorry, but I have had this stuck in my head since I saw the question earlier in the day:** [/sub] [sup]_…Kid my only kid you look so small you’ve gone so quiet I know you know what I’m about I won’t deny it…[/sup]_ ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-children-called-kids/82802/12 "2001-09-20T20:42:34Z")
Or we have an even earlier date from [m-w.com](http://m-w.com): > [@](#): > > Main Entry: kid > Pronunciation: 'kid > Function: noun > Etymology: Middle English kide, of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse kith kid > Date: 13th century ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-children-called-kids/82802/13 "2001-09-20T20:46:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lno \* > Or we have an even earlier date from [m-w.com](http://m-w.com): I think that references the introduction of the word “kid” but not necessarily the usage questioned in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Ross](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@Ross](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ross)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-children-called-kids/82802/14 "2001-09-20T21:22:10Z")
My old pastor used to say that it wasn’t on to call children kids, because we’re supposed to be sheep, not goats… and goats are associated with the devil… and all that jazz. But while it sounds like the kind of thing narrow-minded Christians might get themselves terribly hot and bothered about, I heard him use the phrase himself a few times, too. I mean, common sense will find a way. As Jeff Goldblum should have said in Jurassic Park, just before they nuked the island \*a la \*\*Aliens.