'4-HO-butyraldehyde' originates from modern chemical nomenclature, specifically formed by combining the locant and functional-group prefix '4-HO' (indicating a hydroxy group at position 4) with the parent name 'butyraldehyde'.

'butyraldehyde' ultimately derives from 'butyr-' (from Latin/Greek roots related to butter) combined with 'aldehyde' (from 19th-century chemical usage); the systematic form 'butanal' and prefixed locants developed with IUPAC naming conventions to give names like '4-hydroxybutanal' and the shorthand '4-HO-butyraldehyde'.

Initially, roots such as 'butyr-' referred to substances associated with butter; over time they became standardized as the carbon-chain root 'butyr-' (four-carbon) in organic nomenclature, while 'aldehyde' became the accepted term for the oxidized alcohol functional group; combined modern names now denote precise structure (an aldehyde on a four-carbon chain with a 4-hydroxy substituent).