'Shorea' originates from English, specifically the surname 'Shore' (as in Sir John Shore), Latinised to form the botanical name 'Shorea'.

'Shorea' was created as a Latinised commemorative genus name in botanical Latin (late 18th–early 19th century), using the surname 'Shore' and the Latin-style ending '-ea'; it became established in scientific and then general English usage to refer to the genus and its timber.

Initially the name commemorated a person (the surname 'Shore'); over time it has come to denote the botanical genus and, by extension, the timber from those trees.