The name of Cambodia, in Khmer "Kampuchea" (ព្រះរាជាណាចក្រកម្ពុជា Preăh Réachéa Nachâk Kâmpŭchea), derives from Sanskrit Kambujadeśa (कम्बोजदेश; "land of Kambuja"). It is not unique to the modern kingdom of Cambodia: the same name (i.e. Kamboja/Kambuja) is also found in Burmese and Thai chronicles referring to regions within those kingdoms. In the Indian chronicles the Kambuja were a barbarian (in the sense of non-Indian) people in the area of modern Afghanistan. "The application to Southeast Asia has no ethnic content and does not imply any migration of peoples from the original Kambuja; the most likely explanation is that, when Indian traders and Brahmins came into contact with local populations some two thousand years ago, they gave them the names of regions which, in their view, were similarly marginal and remote: the peoples of Southeast Asia, like the barbarian Kamboja, had no castes, did not observe proper food prohibitions and had different rules for marriage."[1] An origin-myth recorded in the Baksei Chamkrong inscription, dated AD 947, derives Kambuja from Svayambhuva Kambu, a legendary Indian sage who reached the Indochina peninsula and married a naga princess named Mera, thus uniting the Indian and local races. In this story Kambuja derives from Kambu+ja, and means "descendants of Kambu."[2]
Preah Reachanachâk Kampuchea means "Kingdom of Cambodia". Etymologically, its components are: Preah- ("sacred"); -reach- ("king, royal, realm", from Sanskrit); -ana- (from Pāli āṇā, "authority, command, power", itself from Sanskrit ājñā, same meaning) -châk (from Sanskrit chakra, meaning "wheel", a symbol of power and rule). The name used on formal occasions, such as political speeches and news programs, is Prâteh Kampuchea (Khmer: ប្រទេសកម្ពុជា), literally "the Country of Cambodia". The colloquial name most used by Khmer people is Srok Khmae (Khmer: ស្រុកខ្មែរ), literally "the Khmer Land". Srok is a Mon-Khmer word roughly equal to the Sanskritic prâteh, but less formal.
The official name of Cambodia has changed several times since independence: