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In antiquity, Sri Lanka was known to travellers by a variety of names. Known in India as Lanka or Sinhala , ancient Greek geographers called it Taprobane[18] /təˈprɒbəniː/ and Arabs referred to it as Serendib (the origin of the word "serendipity").[19] Ceilão, the name given to Sri Lanka by the Portuguese when they arrived in 1505,[20] was transliterated into English as Ceylon.[21] As a British crown colony, the island was known as Ceylon; it achieved independence as the Dominion of Ceylon in 1948.

In Sinhala the country is known as ශ්‍රී ලංකා śrī laṃkā, IPA: [ʃɾiːˈlaŋkaː], and the island itself as ලංකාව laṃkāva, IPA: [laŋˈkaːʋə].[citation needed] In Tamil they are both இலங்கை ilaṅkai, IPA: [iˈlaŋɡai]. In 1972 the name was changed to "Free, Sovereign and Independent Republic of Sri Lanka". In 1978 it was changed to the "Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka".[22] As the name Ceylon still appears in the names of a number of organisations, the Sri Lankan government had announced a plan to rename all those over which it has authority.

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