The ancient murrelet (Synthliboramphus antiquus) is a bird in the auk family.

The bird breeds from the Yellow Sea (islands off China), through the Russian Pacific coast and the Aleutian Islands to the Haida Gwaii archipelago of British Columbia. This species is migratory.

Charadriiformes, Charadriidae, Charadrius: Late Latin word for a yellowish bird mentioned in the fourth-century Vulgate; from Ancient Greek kharadrios a bird found in ravines and river valleys (kharadra, "ravine").

The word 'auk' /ɔːk/ is derived from Icelandic álka and Norwegian alka or alke, from Old Norse ālka, from Proto-Germanic *alkǭ (sea-bird, auk).

The family name Alcidae comes from the genus name Alca, from the Norwegian word alke.

The genus name Synthliboramphus is from Ancient Greek sunthlibo, "to compress", and rhamphos, "bill".

The English name "Murrelet" is a diminutive of "murre" without clear origins.

The specific epithet antiquus is Latin meaning "ancient", referring to the grey color on the back like a shawl (worn by the elderly).