The Swiss naturalist Conrad Gessner named the northern gannet as "Anser bassanus" or "scoticus" in the 16th century, noting that the Scots called it "solendguse". The former name was also used by the English naturalist Francis Willughby in the 17th century; the species was known to him from a colony in the Firth of Forth and a stray bird that was found near Coleshill, Warwickshire. It was one of the many species originally described by the Swedish zoologist Carl Linnaeus in the landmark 1758 10th edition of his "Systema Naturae", where it was given the binomial name "Pelecanus bassanus". The French biologist Brisson placed it in the genus "Sula" in 1760, and his compatriot Louis Vieillot moved the species to his new genus "Morus" in 1816. "Morus" is derived from Ancient Greek "moros", meaning "foolish", and refers to the lack of fear shown by breeding gannets and boobies, which enables them to be easily killed. The specific name "bassanus" is from the Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth. The ornithologist Bryan Nelson in 1978 supported the species' inclusion in "Sula" as he felt the differences in anatomy, behaviour, ecology and morphology between gannets and boobies were not sufficient to warrant separate genera.