袋鼠这个词源自Guugu Yimidhirr(一种澳洲原住民方言) 。后来被詹姆斯・库克船长于1770年在航海旅行中首次命名。Word History: A widely-held belief has it that the word kangaroo comes from an Australian Aboriginal word meaning “I don't know.” This is in fact untrue. The word was first recorded in 1770 by Captain James Cook, when he landed to make repairs along the northeast coast of Australia. In 1820, one Captain Phillip K. King recorded a different word for the animal, written “mee-nuah.” As a result, it was assumed that Captain Cook had been mistaken, and the myth grew up that what he had heard was a word meaning “I don't know” (presumably as the answer to a question in English that had not been understood). Recent linguistic fieldwork, however, has confirmed the existence of a word gangurru in the northeast Aboriginal language of Guugu Yimidhirr, referring to a species of kangaroo. What Captain King heard may have been their word minha, meaning “edible animal.”
而这一切其实只是一场误会,约瑟夫·班克斯的第一次航海旅行时,他抵达努力河(即现时库克镇港口)岸边。在靠岸修理船舰的七个礼拜其间,他意外地发现到一种古灵精怪的动物,便去询问当地澳洲土著,但是由于语言不通将“不知道”当做“袋鼠”的英文名称,就一直使用。但事实上,经语言学家John B. Haviland研究,当地称呼袋鼠即为“ganguro”,其意义并非“不知道”。