'2-methoxybenzaldehyde' originates from systematic chemical nomenclature (IUPAC), composed of 'methoxy' (built from 'methyl' + the suffix '-oxy', indicating an oxygen-containing substituent) and 'benzaldehyde' ('benz-' relating to benzene/benzoin and 'aldehyde' denoting the -CHO functional group).

'2-methoxybenzaldehyde' corresponds to the trivial name 'o-anisaldehyde'; 'anisaldehyde' derives from Latin 'anisum' (from Greek 'anison'), meaning 'anise' (the plant), while 'benzaldehyde' developed in 19th-century organic chemistry from 'benzoin' → 'benzene' → 'benzaldehyde' as chemists named substances by their structural origins. The modern systematic name reflects explicit substituent position (2- / ortho-) and functional groups.

Originally, parts of the name referenced natural sources (for example, 'anis-' from anise) or materials (benzoin); over time these terms shifted from source-based/trivial names to precise structural descriptors indicating a benzene ring bearing an aldehyde and a methoxy substituent at position 2.