The sergeant major was first referred to as Abudefduf saxatilis by Carl Linnaeus (1758). The scientific name abudefduf translates as "father", saxa as "living among rocks", and tilus as "tile-like in color". It is called father due to its bossy, aggressive behavior towards other inhabitants on the reef. Synonyms include A. marginatus Bloch 1787, Chaetodon marginatus Bloch 1787, Chaetodon mauritii Bloch 1787, Glyphisodon moucharra Lacepede 1802, Chaetodon sargoides Lacepede 1802, Glyphisodon biniar Montrouzier 1857, Apogon quinquevittatus Blyth 1858, and Abudefduf ascensionis Fowler 1919.English language common names are sergeant major, damsel fish, five finger, and pilotfish. This fish gets its common name "sergeant major" from the stripes that resemble the traditional insignia of the military rank. Other common names include asan (Malay), badret (Marshallese), bakej (Marshallese), bitoke (Marshallese), burrinho (Creole /Portuguese), camiseta (Portuguese), castagnole (French), castanheta (Portuguese), chauffet soleil (French), ega'aisse (Arabic), garbik pasiasty (Polish), isdang san ramon (Visayan), kalli (Malayalam), laslas (Samal), limoulaang (Carolinian), makhrev (Arabic), mamo (Tahitian), patima-mashowera (Swahili), pesce damigella (Italian), petaca rayada (Spanish), pintano (Spanish), sargento (Portuguese), sergent major(French), shibubu (Arabic), and urel (Marshallese).
The sergeant major is a small, rounded fish with the body compressed laterally. It has a single nostril on each side of the snout, rather than two as in the butterflyfishes and angelfishes. The mouth is small and terminal. This fish is often confused with Abudefduf taurus, the night sergeant. However, the vertical bars of the sergeant major are more pronounced and it has a slimmer body. There is also much less distance between the eye and the upper margin of the mouth in A. saxatilis than in A. taurus.
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