In physics, position as a function of time is generally called $d(t)$ or $s(t)$. Using "$d$" is pretty intuitive, however I haven't been able to figure out why "$s$" is used as well. Is it possibly based on another language?
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As commenters have pointed out, it's German Strecke.
Note that $s$ is for displacement, whereas $d$ is for distance. Distance is the distance along the path traveled by a body, whereas displacement is the birds-eye distance traveled. Displacement can also be negative in 1-D, depending upon your reference positive direction.
For some reason, even though Strecke actually means distance, not displacement, its symbol is used for displacement.
You might want to check out this paper, it's got an analysis of the naming, mainly for electrodynamic units. A few symbols from the table at the end of the paper: $c$ (speed of light) comes from Latin celeritas; $I$ (current) comes from "intensity of current" in French (intensite du courant). The $\mathbf{A}$-potential, $\mathbf{B}$-field, $\mathbf{H}$-field got their symbols from the alphabetic order of the others.
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Manishearth
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It's not German, it's Latin, because higher education all over Europe was performed in Latin for over 600 years (until 19th century), so it originates from the word spatium, meaning space
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