Page "Syrah" Paragraph 15

Since the name Shiraz has been used primarily in Australia in modern times, while the earliest Australian documents use the spelling " Scyras ", the name Shiraz has been speculated ( among others by Jancis Robinson ) to be in fact a so-called " strinization " of Syrah's name via Scyras.

However, while the names Shiraz and Hermitage gradually seem to have replaced Scyras in Australia from the mid-19th century, the spelling Shiraz has also been documented in British sources back to at least the 1830s.

So, while the name or spelling Shiraz may be an effect of the English language on a French name, there is no evidence that it actually originated in Australia, although it was definitely the Australian usage and the Australian wines that made the use of this name popular.