Today, scientists agree that there is only one species of giraffe. This means that in their scientific classisfication, all giraffes have the same first and second names. They are all Giraffa camelopardalis, which means "the fast-walking camel-leopard."

When giraffes were only known from their description, it was thought the tall, spotted animals must be a cross between camels and leopards!

There are several subspecies of the giraffe. A giraffe's third name is its subspecies name, and these are all different. A giraffe's subspecies is determined by where it lives in Africa. It can be recognized by its coat pattern.  The third name may describe a characteristic of the animal, tell where it comes from or who discovered it.