撒拉森人，或译萨拉森人，系源自阿拉伯文的「东方人（شرقيين‎、sharqiyyin）」，转写成希腊文作Σαρακηνοί、Sarakēnoí，拉丁文作Saracen（撒拉坚），中文则受英语化或晚期拉丁语颚化的影响而习惯译成「撒拉森」。在西方的历史文献中，撒拉森最常用来笼统地泛称伊斯兰的阿拉伯帝国。

在早期的罗马帝国时代，撒拉森只用以指称西奈半岛上的阿拉伯游牧民族。后来的东罗马帝国则将这个名字，套用在所有阿拉伯民族上。伊斯兰教兴起于西亚，特别在十一世纪末期的十字军东征后，以基督教信仰为主的欧洲人，普遍用「撒拉森」来称呼所有位于亚洲与北非的穆斯林。

Saracen was a term widely used among Christian writers in Europe during the Middle Ages. The term's meaning evolved during its history. In the early centuries CE, Greek and Latin writings used this term to refer to the people who lived in desert areas in and near the Roman province of Arabia, and who were specifically distinguished as a people from others known as Arabs. In Europe during the Early Medieval era, the term came to be associated with Arab tribes as well. By the 12th century, "Saracen" had become synonymous with "Muslim" in Medieval Latin literature. Such expansion in the meaning of the term had begun centuries earlier among the Byzantine Romans, as evidenced in documents from the 8th century. In the Western languages before the 16th century, "Saracen" was commonly used to refer to Muslim Arabs, and the words "Muslim" and "Islam" were generally not used (with a few isolated exceptions).