The name Suriname may derive from an indigenous people called Surinen, who inhabited the area at the time of European contact.

Lawrence Kemys wrote in his Relation of the Second Voyage to Guiana of passing a river called "Shurinama".

In 1598, a fleet of three Dutch ships visiting the Wild Coast mention passing the river "Surinamo".

de Vries wrote of traveling up the "Sername" river in 1634 until he encountered the English colony there; the terminal vowel remained in future Dutch spellings and pronunciations.

In 1640, a Spanish manuscript entitled "General Description of All His Majesty's Dominions in America" called the river "Soronama".

During the Second World War, the 6,000 tonne North German Lloyd cargo ship Goslar was scuttled in the Suriname in order to prevent it from falling into Allied hands.