Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon
The word "dugong" derives from the Visayan (probably Cebuano) "". The name was first adopted and popularized by the French naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, as "dugon" in "Histoire Naturelle" (1765), after descriptions of the animal from the island of Leyte in the Philippines. The name ultimately derives from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *duyuŋ. Despite common misconception, the term does not come from Malay "duyung" and it does not mean "lady of the sea".