Sockeye salmon ocean and live their entire lives in freshwater. Sockeye salmon is the third-most common Pacific salmon species, after pink and chum salmon. "Oncorhynchus" comes from the Greek ὄγκος (onkos) meaning "barb", and ῥύγχος (rhynchos) meaning "snout". "Nerka" is the Russian name for the anadromous form. The name "sockeye" is an anglicization of "suk-kegh" (sθə́qəy̓), its name in Halkomelem, the language of the indigenous people along the lower reaches of the Fraser River (one of British Columbia's many native Coast Salish languages). "Suk-kegh" means "red fish". The sockeye salmon is sometimes called red or blueback salmon, due to its color. Sockeye
Kokanee salmon of landlocked sockeye has occurred more than once with different kokanee populations, showing genetic differences between populations. Most evidence points to events that land-locked the lake-type sockeye (which spawns in streams and lakes, rather than tributaries like the sea-type sockeye, but is still anadromous and spends most of its adult life out at sea), which evolved into the non-anadromous form. Genetic evidence from kokanee in the Fraser River drainage and Columbia River drainage shows that ancestors of the kokanee came from the lake-type sockeye. The data also suggests that the kokanee may have evolved back into a lake-type anadromous form