The genus name is derived from Greek "πύρρος (purrhos)", "flame-coloured", and "κόραξ (korax)", "raven". The species epithet "graculus" is Latin for a jackdaw. The current binomial name of the Alpine chough was formerly sometimes applied to the red-billed chough. The English word "chough" was originally an alternative onomatopoeic name for the jackdaw, "Corvus monedula", based on its call. The red-billed chough, formerly particularly common in Cornwall and known initially as the "Cornish chough", eventually became just "chough", the name transferring from one genus to another.