Southern boobook point out." Gould recorded local aboriginal names: "Goor-goor-da" (Western Australia), "Mel-in-de-ye" (Port Essington), and "Koor-koo" (South Australia). Alternative common names include spotted owl and brown owl. The Ngarluma people of the western Pilbara knew it as "gurrgumarlu". In the Yuwaaliyaay dialect of the Gamilaraay language of southeastern Australia, the southern boobook is . Dutch naturalist Gerlof Mees and German evolutionary biologist Ernst Mayr regarded the taxonomy of the boobook owl complex as extremely challenging, the latter remarking in 1943 that it was "one of the most difficult problems I have ever encountered". In his 1964 review of Australian owls, Mees
Southern boobook Australia", Gould recognised three species, all of which he placed in the genus "Spiloglaux": "S. marmoratus" from South Australia, "S. boobook", which is widespread across the Australian mainland and Tasmania, and "S. maculatus" from southeastern Australia and Tasmania. Meanwhile, in India, English naturalist Brian Houghton Hodgson had established the genus "Ninox" in 1837, and his countryman Edward Blyth placed the southern boobook in the new genus in 1849. "Southern boobook" has been designated the official name by the International Ornithological Committee. The common name comes from the two-tone call of the bird, and has also been transcribed as "mopoke". William