Original: In most encyclopedic sources, the name "panda" or "common panda" originally referred to the lesser-known Red Panda, thus necessitated the inclusion of "giant" and "lesser/red" prefixes in front of the names.
Simplified: Its closest "bear relative" is the Spectacled Bear of South America. The first "Westerner" to see a live panda was a German zoologist in 1916.