'4-anisaldehyde' is formed from the locant '4' (indicating the para position) + 'anisaldehyde'. 'Anisaldehyde' itself is from 'anise' + 'aldehyde': 'anise' originates from Latin 'anisum' (from Greek 'ánison') meaning 'aniseed', and 'aldehyde' was coined in the 19th century from 'alcohol' + (de)hydrogenation sense.

'Aldehyde' was introduced in chemical literature (German 'Aldehyd', from an abbreviated phrase meaning 'alcohol dehydrogenatus') in the early 19th century and came to denote the -CHO functional group. 'Anisaldehyde' developed as the name for the aldehyde derivative of anise/anethol-containing oils; specifying the position (4- or para-) arose with systematic nomenclature conventions in aromatic chemistry.

Originally 'aldehyde' referred to 'alcohol dehydrogenated' (a descriptive formation), but over time it became the standard class name for compounds containing the -CHO group. 'Anisaldehyde' historically meant 'an aldehyde from anise oil' and now denotes the specific structural compound, commonly specified by position as '4-anisaldehyde'.