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If dinosaur names seem Greek to you, you're right!

British anatomist Sir Richard Owen coined the word dinosaur in 1841: deinos for "fearfully great" and sauros for "lizard."

Dinosaur species are typically named in one of three ways:
For distinctive physical or behavioural traits. Triceratops is named for its "three-horned head," while velociraptor means "speedy robber."

For the discoverer or for someone the discoverer wants to honour. Stokesosaurus is named for American paleontologist Lee Stokes, for instance, while the fabrosaurus is named in honour of French entomologist Jean Henri Fabre.

For the place of discovery. It's no mystery where the albertosaurus, for instance, was first discovered.

Some paleontologists opt for less traditional nomenclature when christening their discoveries. In 2001, for example, a team of American researchers named its carnivorous dinosaur find Masiakasaurus knopfleri to honour Dire Straits guitarist and singer Mark Knopfler, whose rock music was popular at the dig site.