'Saribus' originates as a modern botanical (Latinized) genus name, likely adapted from a local Austronesian/Malayo-Polynesian vernacular name referring to a fan palm.

'Saribus' was used in botanical literature as a genus name and, after periods when some species were treated under the genus 'Livistona', was reinstated as a separate genus in recent taxonomic revisions (early 21st century).

Initially a local name referring to a type of palm; over time it was Latinized and came to denote the scientific genus 'Saribus'.