On February 11, 2020, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, charged with naming new viruses, named the virus causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, shortened to SARS-CoV-2.
As the name indicates, the virus is related to the sars-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV) that caused an outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2002-2003, however it is not the same virus.
Read more on cdc.gov