Overview
What faunagender means.
Some people go looking for their gender and find something with fur, feathers or scales. Not a hobby, not a fursona: the honest answer to 'what's your gender' is closer to a creature than to man or woman. Faunagender is the word for that, whether the animal is one specific kind, several, or animals in general.
It also works as an umbrella. Catgender, pupgender and the other specific-animal words sit underneath it. Use the specific word if you have one; use faunagender if the animal changes, or if it's the animal-ness rather than any one animal.
What it is not: it isn't a claim to be an animal. Some faunagender people are also otherkin or therian, and for them the two are wound together, which is kingender's territory. Plenty aren't. The record on the wiki says the link can be a strong connection to an animal or a metaphor, a gender with the qualities of that animal. And it's a small word from online xenogender spaces, with a record starting in 2014 and nothing behind it but definitions. Read what follows as description, not history.
A xenogender described through animals: the umbrella over catgender, pupgender and the rest.
Faunagender in one line
Origin
Where the word comes from
Faunagender was coined on Tumblr by the user nooklicker, according to a dated pride-color-schemes reblog, and the LGBTQIA+ Wiki dates the term to 2014. It joins "fauna" (animal life) to "-gender," following the same build pattern as the many xenogender words that emerged from Tumblr's MOGAI community in the mid-2010s.
It functions both as a specific label — a gender connected to animals broadly rather than any one creature — and as an umbrella over more specific animal-linked gender words such as catgender and pupgender, which are used when someone's connection is to one particular animal rather than to animals in general.
Signs people describe
Common experiences
None of these is a test. Most people recognise a few and shrug at the rest.
The answer to 'what's your gender' arrives as the name of an animal, and the sensible answer turns up a second later to replace it.
You might have felt more correctly yourself watching a fox cross a road at dusk than in any room full of people.
Every game and forum since you were twelve has an animal name on it, and never once a person's name.
You might read the non-binary description and find it close but oddly flat, because it describes a position between two points and yours has claws.
Asked whether this is 'just' a fursona, you find the question misses: a fursona is a character you play. This is what's there when you stop.
You might have tried 'agender' because the human words all missed, and found it wrong too. There's something there. It just isn't made of man or woman.
Pronouns
Pronouns
Faunagender says nothing about pronouns. People turn up with he, she, they, it (chosen, and meant), and neopronouns, some drawn from the animal, most not. If animal-based neopronouns make you wince, skip them. They're one option some people took, not a requirement.
Consider another path
This might not be your word if…
- 1You love animals and 'man' or 'woman' still answers the gender question fine. Then you're someone who loves animals, which is a whole good thing on its own.
- 2The animal is a character you play, a fursona, a roleplay, a costume, and you set it down when you log off. Faunagender is what's still there afterwards.
- 3Your gender is inseparable from being otherkin or therian. That's kingender, and it'll describe the mechanism more precisely than this does.
- 4You want a word that a school, a clinic or a form will take seriously. This one won't do that work. Use the broad word for those rooms and keep this one for yourself.
Close by
Related identities
Xenogender
The umbrella: any gender described through things outside man and woman. Faunagender is the animal branch. If the general idea fits but animals don't, start with the umbrella.
ReadKingender
Gender that comes out of your kintype, being otherkin or therian. Faunagender doesn't need a kin claim. Some people are both; the wiki record says faunagenders can be kingenders but don't have to be.
ReadBiogender
Nature and living things in general: seasons, weather, growth. Faunagender is narrower, creatures specifically. If yours is green and weather-shaped rather than animal, look there.
ReadAesthetigender
Gender as a texture or atmosphere rather than a thing. The line is whether your description is a thing or a mood: 'fox' points here; the feel of a fox at dusk points to aesthetigender.
Read
Agender
Nothing there at all. Faunagender is the opposite shape: something is definitely present. It just doesn't answer to the human categories.
ReadQuestions people ask
Frequently asked questions
Is faunagender the same as being a furry?+
No. Furry is a fandom and a hobby: art, costumes, a community you take part in. Faunagender is a description of gender. Plenty of furries have entirely ordinary genders, and plenty of faunagender people have never been near a convention. Overlap exists; it isn't the definition.
Do I have to identify as an animal?+
No. The wiki record allows two routes: a strong connection to an animal, or a metaphor, a gender with that animal's qualities. Neither requires believing you are one. If you do identify as an animal and your gender is bound up with that, kingender is the more exact word.
Is this a real identity or an internet joke?+
It came out of online xenogender communities and is used by a small number of people. That's honestly where it stands. The test isn't the word's pedigree; it's whether the description is still true for you in six months when nobody's watching.
Sources
- Faunagender — LGBTQIA+ Wiki Fetched 2026-09-03. Definition, umbrella use over catgender and pupgender, the connection-or-metaphor wording, the kingender overlap, and the 2014 coinage claim (the wiki's own dating).
- Faunagender — pride-color-schemes (Tumblr) Attributes the coining of faunagender to Tumblr user nooklicker. Fetched 2026-09-06.
Still figuring things out?
Twenty questions, four minutes, and a few words worth trying on.