Etymology

There are a number of hypotheses that have been put forth to try and explain the term this ambiguous etymology. The Arabic phrase “Jazirat al-Qamar,” which means “Island of the Moon,” is said to be the source of the name, according to a popular idea. Arab traders and cartographers are said to have used this phrase in the Middle Ages to describe an island southeast of Africa, which is thought to be Madagascar.

The name “ilha de São Lourenço” (Island of Saint Lawrence), according to another version, is derived from Portuguese. Based on the idea that Portuguese explorers, such as Diego Dias, were among the first Europeans to arrive in Madagascar in the early sixteenth century, this theory was developed.

The native inhabitants of this, however, have their own oral traditions.