australia name meaning
0. The name Australia is derived from the Latin australis, meaning southern. Legends of an âunknown southern landâ (terra australis incognita) date back to the Roman times and were commonplace in medival geography, but they were not based on any actual knowledge of the continent.he name âAustraliaâ was popularised by the 1814 work A Voyage to Terra Australis by the navigator Matthew Flinders. Despite its title, which reflected the view of the Admiralty, Flinders used the word âAustraliaâ in the book, which was widely read and gave the term general currency.