COMMON NAMES FOR FIREFLIES
A firefly by any other name would still glow as brightly. But fireflies are a numerous and prolific species living all over the world, and they’re well-known in hundreds of different cultures. Because of this, they’re called by many common names. Here are just a few of the many names of fireflies.
WE NEED YOUR HELP! Do you have a spoken or written word used for firefly or lightning bug in one of the many languages around the world? Please let us know! A large majority of the names listed below have been sent to us from visitors around the world.
Firefly
Firefly Beetle
Glow Worm – British word, sometimes used to refer to firefly
larvae.
Glow Fly
Moon Bug
Lightning Bug
Golden Sparkler
Fire Devils
Hotaru – The Japanese word for firefly.
Big Dipper
Blinkie – Jamaican term.
Peeni Wallie – Jamaican name for firefly
Jugnu or जुगनू – Hindi word for firefly
Minna-Minni – This is a Malayalam word for firefly. Malayalam
(ma-la-yaa-lam) is the official language of the state of Kerala in India.
Kerala is situated in the western peninsular tip of southern India.
ಮಿಂಚುಹುಳು (Minchuhulu) – Kannada word for firefly. Kannada is a
language spoken widely in the southern part of India, especially the state of Karnataka.
Luciérnaga – The Spanish (spoken) word for firefly.
Cucubanos – Spanish (spoken) word used in Caribbean islands such as Puerto Rico and Cuba.
Ipurtargi – Basque language (Spoken in Spain & France)
Cuques de llum – Catalan name for fireflies from the principality of Catalonia in northeastern Spain near Barcelona.
Vaga-Lume or Pirilampos – Portuguese word for firefly.
Kelip-Kelip – (congregating firefly) in the Malay language
in Malaysia.
Kunang-Kunang – (mostly for solitary firefly) or api-api
in the Malay language in Malaysia.
Minnaminungu – ‘Malayalam’ language spoken in the state of ‘Kerala’ in India.
Kalamadiriya – Sinhala language of Sri Lanka
Leuchtkäfer – German
Glühwurm – German (Term for the firefly larvae (similar
to Glow Worm)
Glühwürmchen – German (Cuter term that mostly children
would use.)
Luciole – French
Mouche à feu – French Canadian (non-formal)
светлячок – Russian
Glimworm: – Dutch
Lucciola: – Italian
Πυγολαμπίδα – Greek name for firefly
ホタル Japanese
개똥벌레 Korean
螢火蟲 Chinese (traditional)
萤火虫 Chinese (simplified)
Hing Hoy or หิ่งห้อย – The vernacular name for fireflies in Thai language.
גחלילית of Gakhlilit – Hebrew word for firefly meaning “little ember” or “little spark”.
Vuurvliegie – Afrikaans (a cross between Dutch and English)
Tulikärpänen – Finnish
Alitaptap – Tagalog language (Also known as Filipino. Spoken in the Philippines.)
Ates Bocegi – The name for firefly in Turkish
Waruha – Ho-Chunk
Waawaatesi – Ojibwe. This may sound familiar to anyone who knows ‘The Song of Hiawatha’ written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Longfellow spelled the word for firefly phonetically, as ‘Wah-wah-tay-see’. The Wisconsin city called Wauwatosa is said to mean ‘place of fireflies’.
Wauwatosa – Potawatomi Native American Indian name for firefly
Szentjánosbogár – Hungarian
Světluška – Czech
Ildflue – Norwegian word for firefly
Licurici – Romanian
يراعة – Arabic
Muzbieh il-lejl – Maltese word for glowworm from the island nation of Malta.
Got a unique name for fireflies, or know their name in another language?
Tell us about it! Submit it here, and we’ll put it up on our site.
More than half of the translations listed above are a result of submissions to Firefly.org! Thank you!