Myanmar or Burma: Etymology and a Country’s Name

Joshua O’Brien

Earlier this week, I was passively listening to White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki give a press briefing when my ears perked up. In discussing the recent coup, Psaki referred to the country as “Burma” rather than Myanmar. Personally, I have always referred to the country with the latter name—it is after all the name that appears on the country’s Wikipedia page. But I quickly realized that to refer to the country as Burma is not a mere wire-crossing. Psaki’s language would have been cleared by an official at State or the NSC. As I later confirmed, it is the policy of the United States to refer to the Southeast Asian country to the west of Thailand as Burma. Why?

Well, I already went down this rabbit-hole. The 2021 coup d’état is not Myanmar’s first. The political history of the country since its independence has been contentious. In 1988, General Saw Maung launched a coup d’état against the country’s military government. He formed a new governing body, the State Law and Order Restoration Council, and within a year officially changed the state’s name from the Socialist Republic and Union of Burma to the Union of Myanmar. Clearly, this was a rebuke to the socialist government, but what about Myanmar and Burma?

The two terms are derived from the same word, just in different forms. Myanmar is the term used in writing—the official, literary term. Burma is the spoken, more colloquial term. Even today, people inside the country will say Burma, even as they write Myanmar. So, to change the name from the informal to the formal suggests the regime’s shift to favor formal and literary culture and practices to informal ones. Of course, this suggests a variety of cultural and political questions. Unfortunately, my time is limited and I am not presently an expert on Myanmar, so I will have to leave those questions unresolved in this post.

But I can comment on the American policy to maintain the name Burma in reference to the country. The US, along with the UK, felt the name change undemocratic, as it was instilled by a military dictatorship. Ostensibly, this is a rebuke to a government they did not view with legitimacy, even if the official reasoning gives a more idealistic explanation on a country’s name belonging to the people. Despite this, the United Nations, and most countries globally, have accepted the name of Myanmar.

But, for now, Jen Psaki will keep saying “Burma” at the White House podium.