Names

In Nepal the mountain is called Sagarmatha (सगरमाथा, Sanskrit for "Forehead of the Sky"). In Tibetan it is Chomolangma or Qomolangma ("Mother of the Universe"), or in Chinese: 珠穆朗瑪峰 (pinyin: Zhūmùð „lǎngmǎ Fēng).

The mountain was given its English name by Sir Andrew Waugh, the British surveyor-general of India, who named it after his predecessor, Sir George Everest. The modern pronunciation of Everest – IPA: [ˈɛvərɪst] or [ˈɛvərɨst] (first "E" as in "Ever") – is, however, different from Sir George's own pronunciation of his surname, which was [ˈivərɪst] (first "E" as in "Eve").

The Chinese People's Daily newspaper published an article in 2002 attacking the continued use of the English name for the mountain in the Western world, insisting that it should be referred to by its Tibetan name.