'2-aminobenzoyl' originates from a combination of the numeral '2', the prefix 'amino' and the chemical element 'benzoyl'. 'amino' derives from French/German 'amine' (ultimately from 'ammonia'), where the root 'amin-' denotes derivation from ammonia, and 'benzoyl' originates from New Latin 'benzoyl' formed from 'benzoin' (from Arabic lubān jāwī), where the element 'benz-' referred to the benzoin resin and '-oyl' is a chemical suffix for an acyl radical.

'benzoyl' was formed in 19th-century chemical nomenclature from 'benzoin' (New Latin 'benzoinum' ← Arabic 'lubān jāwī') via intermediate European forms; the suffix '-oyl' was adopted to name acyl radicals. 'amino-' arose as a prefix from the noun 'amine' in the 19th century to indicate an -NH2 group. The modern assembled name '2-aminobenzoyl' follows systematic organic nomenclature to show an amino substituent at the 2-position of a benzoyl group.

Initially 'benzoyl' was associated with the natural resin 'benzoin'; over time its use shifted in chemistry to denote the acyl radical derived from benzoic derivatives. 'amino' originally indicated relation to ammonia and later became a standard prefix indicating an -NH2 substituent; combined, the term now specifically denotes the 2‑amino substituted benzoyl acyl group.