Dinosaurs have a powerful place in pop culture, including museums, books, and movies. But the American people's fondness for the Mesozoic animals is far from universal.
Overall, 13% of U.S. adult citizens say they "love" dinosaurs. Another 31% say they merely "like" dinosaurs. And while only 5% say they "dislike" or even "hate" dinosaurs, 47% have a striking opinion about the creatures who dominated the Earth for the better part of 200 million years: indifference.
Likewise, 41% of U.S. adult citizens say they don't have a favorite dinosaur, while 55% have a favorite dinosaur and 5% aren't sure. The group that doesn't have a favorite dinosaur is larger than those naming any particular type of dinosaur. That includes tyrannosaurus rex, the favorite of 19% of Americans and the only type of dinosaur picked by more than 10% of the population. (It's also the big winner in the UK.)
Other popular types of dinosaurs include velociraptor (the favorite of 6% of Americans), brontosaurus (6%), triceratops (5%), pterodactyl (not technically a dinosaur, but picked by 4%), and stegosaurus (4%).
Most adults under 65 say they have a favorite dinosaur, compared to 44% of older Americans. Men are more likely to have favorite dinosaurs than women; parents of children under 18 are more likely to have one than those who aren't taking care of minors.
There's no big difference based on education — 54% of college graduates and 55% of non-college graduates have a favorite dinosaur. But a big gap hinges on the question of how much attention people pay to public affairs news: 62% of Americans who follow what's going on in government and public affairs "most of the time" have a favorite dinosaur, compared to 42% of those who follow the news "only now and then."
Liberals (64%) and conservatives (58%) are more likely to have a favorite dinosaur than are moderates (50%).
Of the 13% of U.S. adult citizens who say they love dinosaurs, 89% have a favorite, as do 78% of those who say they like dinosaurs. Just 34% of those who say they neither like nor dislike dinosaurs have a favorite.
Among Americans who have a favorite dinosaur, men (40%) are more likely than women (29%) to say T-Rex is their favorite. Women are more likely than men to prefer brontosaurus (15% to 6%) or triceratops (14% to 6%).
See the results of this poll
Methodology: This article includes results from an online survey conducted November 26 - December 3, 2024 among 1,122 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of adult U.S. citizens. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 32% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 4%.
Image: Getty
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