The "Devonian" was named for the English county of Devon, and the name "Carboniferous" was an adaptation of "the Coal Measures", the old British geologists' term for the same set of strata.
"Devon" je nazvan po britanskoj grofoviji Devon, dok je "karbon" jednostavna adaptacija "ugljenih mjera" starog britanskog geološkog pojma za istovjetni niz slojeva.