'Andropogon' originates from Ancient Greek, specifically the elements 'andros' meaning 'man' and 'pōgōn' meaning 'beard'.

'Andropogon' was formed as a Latinized botanical genus name from the Greek components and was adopted into scientific Latin in modern botanical classification (established in the Linnaean era and used thereafter) as the name of this grass genus.

Initially the Greek compound literally suggested 'man-beard' (a descriptive image referring to hairy or bearded inflorescences); over time it became a fixed scientific name for the genus rather than a literal descriptive phrase.