Piggy Bank Another Name: What Else Are They Called?

While a “piggy bank” is the quintessential childhood symbol for saving coins, it goes by several fascinating alternative names depending on where you are in the world, what material it is made of, or how far back you look in linguistic history.

1. The Global and Traditional Alternatives

Depending on regional dialects and historical naming conventions, a piggy bank has picked up several direct synonyms:

• Money Box / Moneybox: The most common global alternative. Widely used in British, Australian, and South African English, a “money box” is the umbrella term for any container designed to hold loose change, regardless of whether it is shaped like an animal, a safe, or a simple wooden chest.
• Penny Bank: A traditional American and British term dating back to the 19th and early 20th centuries when physical pennies made up the bulk of children’s savings.
• Coin Bank: A modern, neutral term frequently used in financial and retail settings to describe containers or digital counters built for collecting loose coins.
• Collecting Box / Charity Box: While typically associated with fundraising, these boxes share the exact same mechanical and structural lineage as personal savings banks.

2. Linguistic Oddities: Why is it called a “pig” anyway?

Ironically, the original containers weren’t shaped like pigs at all. Long before ceramic pigs became popular in the 19th century, English households stored money in jars made of an orange-colored clay called pygg.

• In Middle English, “pygg” referred to this dense, affordable earthenware used for kitchen pots and jars.
• Over centuries, as the word pygg evolved in pronunciation closer to “pig,” English potters in the 1800s began taking literal interpretations of the word to create novelty coin containers shaped like actual pigs—a brilliant linguistic pun that stuck permanently.

3. Cultural Equivalents Around the World

If you look across different languages, you find even more descriptive alternative names for coin banks:

| Language / Region | Local Term | Literal Meaning / Context |
| :— | :— | :— |
| Spanish | Hucha | Refers to a traditional box or chest for storing valuables or money. |
| German | Sparschwein | Literally translates to “saving pig”—showing that the pig motif crossed into European cultures as well. |
| French | Tirelire | An old onomatopoeic or traditional term specifically meaning a money box or coin bank. |
| Japanese | Chokinbako (貯金箱) | Translates directly to “savings box.” |