Until the 1970s, Yamato Imperial Court (written in Chinese characters) was the more frequently used term but, since the 1980s, Yamato Kingdom (with Yamato written phonetically) has become more common after it was pointed out that the Chinese characters for "Yamato" were not used until the Nara period and that "Imperial Court" was not an appropriate expression for the polity of that time.
1970年代より以前は大和朝廷（やまとちょうてい）と呼ばれることが多かったが、「大和」という表記は奈良時代以降のものであるとともに、この政治勢力を説明するには「朝廷」という用語は適当でないとされ、1980年代以降はヤマト王権の呼称が一般的となっている。