What is the difference between Rabbit and Bunny?

Rabbits and bunnies are two names for really the same animal. The cute little hopping animal with a cottontail can be called rabbits or bunnies. However, there is a slight difference between the two, but it does not have necessarily to do with the animal itself because it refers to the same animal whether you are referring to any the same adult animal.

The difference is that a rabbit is usually referred to as a grown-up adult rabbit. The baby rabbit is a bunny. Although, some people will call the animal either word no matter how old the animal is. Also, children usually refer to the animal as a bunny, whereas adults will refer to the animal like a rabbit.

Rabbits and bunnies are actually the same things. Rabbits seem to be informally referred to as bunnies nowadays. It is because, back in the 18th century, rabbits were referred to as conies, whereas young conies were referred to as rabbits. But the name ‘rabbits’ started becoming more popular than it overshadowed the name ‘conies.’ In modern times, the young rabbits are referred to as bunnies, which may sound like conies.

Rabbits symbolize fertility; this is simply because they have a short gestation period. That is why rabbits have great importance for the Easter festivals, which falls in the spring. The story behind this is that in the olden days, the children would make a nest with old clothing and basket for the hare to lay in it during the Easter eve. Meanwhile, hares don’t lay eggs, they give birth to young ones in nests, while rabbits give birth to their younger ones in the burrows. So the word hare changed into a bunny and now popularly called rabbit.