Navnet ''Australien'' er afledt af det [[latin]]ske ''[[Terra Australis]]'' ("sydland"). ''Terra Australis'' var en europæisk forestilling om et hypotetisk land på den sydlige halvkugle.<ref>[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=australia "Australia"] – Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 28 October 2015.</ref> Det engelske ord ''Australia'' nævnes første gang i 1625 i en oversættelse fra spansk. ''Australia'' er en forvanskning af det spanske ''Austrialia'',<ref>[http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/discover_collections/history_nation/queiros/index.html "He named it Austrialia del Espiritu Santo and claimed it for Spain"] ''The Spanish quest for Terra Australis | State Library of New South Wales Page 1''.</ref><ref>[http://rupertgerritsen.tripod.com/pdf/published/Austrialia_Globe_72_2013_pp23-30.pdf "A note on 'Austrialia' or 'Australia' Rupert Gerritsen – Journal of The Australian and New Zealand Map Society Inc.- The Globe, Number 72, 2013 "] ''Posesion en nombre de Su Magestad (Archivo del Museo Naval, Madrid, MS 951) Page 3''.</ref><ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63620938 "THE ILLUSTRATED SYDNEY NEWS"]. ''[[Illustrated Sydney News]]''. National Library of Australia. 26 January 1888. p. 2. Retrieved 29 January 2012.</ref> der oprindeligt blev brugt om øen [[Espiritu Santo]] i [[Vanuatu]], dersom blev navngivet af den spanske opdagelsesrejsende [[Pedro Fernandes de Queirós]] i 1606.<ref>Purchas, vol. iv, pp. 1422–32, 1625. This appears to be variation of the original Spanish "Austrialia" [''[[sic]]''].[https://web.archive.org/web/20060822033701/http://www.hispanicfiesta.com.au/pics/pdf_mag_2004/42.PDF <nowiki>[1]</nowiki>] A copy at the Library of Congress can be read online [http://memory.loc.gov/service/rbc/rbdk/d0404/02951422.jpg <nowiki>[2]</nowiki>].</ref> Det nederlandske adjektiv ''Australische'' bliver i en nederlandsk bog fra 1638 brugt til at beskrive det nyligt opdagede land mod syd.<ref>Scott, Ernest (2004) [1914]. [https://books.google.com/?id=DDNEle_1NzkC&pg=PA299 ''The Life of Captain Matthew Flinders'']. Kessinger Publishing. p. 299. [[International Standard Book Number|ISBN]] [[Speciel:BookSources/978-1-4191-6948-9|978-1-4191-6948-9]].</ref> Australien optræder første gang som officielt navn i et brev dateret 4. april 1817.<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article58549315 "WHO NAMED AUSTRALIA?"]. ''[[The Mail (Adelaide)|The Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 – 1954)]]''. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 11 February 1928. p. 16. Retrieved 14 February 2012.</ref> Samme år anmodede guvernør [[Lachlan Macquarie|Macquarie]] det britiske koloniministerium om formelt at adoptere navnet.<ref>Weekend Australian, 30–31 December 2000, p. 16</ref> Først i 1824 ændrede admiralitetet officielt kontinentets navn til ''Australien''.<ref>Department of Immigration and Citizenship (2007). [https://web.archive.org/web/20091017070336/http://www.immi.gov.au/living-in-australia/values/book/english/lia_english_part1.pdf ''Life in Australia''] (PDF). Commonwealth of Australia. p. 11. [[International Standard Book Number|ISBN]] [[Speciel:BookSources/978-1-921446-30-6|978-1-921446-30-6]]. Archived from [http://www.immi.gov.au/living-in-australia/values/book/english/lia_english_part1.pdf the original] (PDF) on 17 October 2009. Retrieved 30 March2010.</ref>
