'Amoyese' originates from English, specifically the place name 'Amoy' combined with the suffix '-ese', where 'Amoy' represents the English form of the Chinese placename (from local Hokkien pronunciations of 廈門 / Xiamen) and '-ese' meant 'belonging to' or 'of'.

'Amoyese' developed from the English toponym 'Amoy' (an older Western form of the Chinese name Xiamen, adopted via Portuguese and English traders from local Hokkien pronunciations such as Ē-mûi/Ē-mn̂g) plus the adjectival/national suffix '-ese' (from Medieval Latin/Old French formations), eventually forming the English adjective and noun 'Amoyese'.

Initially, it referred specifically to people or things from the port called Amoy (and by extension their speech); over time it has continued to mean 'of or from Amoy' and is also used to denote the local dialect.