From རྒྱ(rgya, “expanse, empire”) +སེར་པོ(ser po, “yellow”). Compare རྒྱ་ནག(rgya nag, “China”, literally “black expanse”) and རྒྱ་གར(rgya gar, “India”, literally “white expanse”); the choice of yellow for Russia is unclear, but may reference the Golden Horde.