The English name commemorates the Colonel William Henry Sykes who served in the British military in India. Keyserling and Blasius gave no explanation of the genus name Iduna, though in Norse mythology Iðunn, or Iduna, is the goddess of spring and fertility who was changed into a sparrow to enable her rescue by Loki. The specific epithet rama refers to the Hindu god Rama, an incarnation of Vishnu.