The name Kerala has an uncertain etymology. Keralam may stem from the Classical Tamil chera-alam ("declivity of a hill or a mountain slope") or chera alam ("Land of the Cheras"). Kerala may represent an imperfect Malayalam portmanteau fusing kera ("coconut palm tree") and alam ("land" or "location"). Natives of Kerala , known as Malayalis or Keralites , refer to their land as Keralam .


A 3rd-century-BC Asokan rock inscription mentioning a state or people called " Keralaputra " is the earliest surviving attestation to the name Kerala . In written records, Kerala was mentioned in the Sanskrit epic Aitareya Aranyaka. Additionally, Katyayana, Patanjali, Pliny the Elder, and the unknown author of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea displayed familiarity with Kerala . In the last centuries BC, the region became famous among the Greeks and Romans for its spices, particularly black pepper.