Abstract: The historical development of rational mechanics and the name changes of general courses in mechanics are investigated. Rational mechanics, the branch of mechanics based on rigorous mathematical demonstrations and proofs, reached its peak in the 19th century under the guidance of French scholars and declined in the first half of the 20th century. It was rejuvenate in the mid-20th century under the advocacy of American scholars. In China, rational mechanics began in 1980s and has continued to develop since then. In the 19th century, the mechanics textbooks focusing on theoretical issues in French were named rational mechanics, and it is still used in general textbooks in French and Italian. Theoretical mechanics possibly derived from rational mechanics is widely used as the titles of general textbooks in Russian and Chinese, as well as occasionally used in English and German for textbooks or treatises.

Key words: history of mechanics, education of mechanics, mechanics courses, rational mechanics, theoretical mechanics