hedgehogs

[loupoop]

where does the name hedgehog come from and what does it mean

[WaldoMcFroog]

Hog means pig, and a hedgehog's face does look a little porcine. And the hedge bit, because that's where they hang out!

[New Forester]

They do make piggy grunting noises too, and a surprising amount of foot-step noise when galloping about. I think it's quite a new name, together with hedge-pig (hedge-hog, of course, like wild boar, ought to be just the males). Before it became widely used (about a century ago?) they were generally called urchins -- a name we now usually only use for the spiny sea thing, which was itself originally named after the land one.

[bernardo]

My dikshunry says "Middle English: from Hedge (its habitat) + hog (from its snout)".