 "V. prasinus" was first described as "Monitor viridis" by John Edward Gray in 1831; however, Gray's original holotype (RMNH 4812 in the National Natural History Museum in Leiden) was lost and the species was redescribed by Schlegel eight years later as "V. prasinus" using the found specimen.The generic name "Varanus" is derived from the Arabic word "waral" (ورل), which translates to English as "monitor".Its specific name, "prasinus", is Latin for the color green.