'Anomaluridae' originates from New Latin, specifically the word 'Anomaluridae', where the Greek root 'anomalos' meant 'uneven' or 'irregular' and 'oura' meant 'tail', and the suffix '-idae' denotes a biological family.

'Anomaluridae' changed from the Ancient Greek compound 'anomalouros' (ἀνομαλοούρος, literally 'irregular-tailed'), passed into New Latin taxonomic usage as 'Anomaluridae', and eventually became the modern English scientific family name 'Anomaluridae'.

Initially, it described the feature 'irregular' or distinctive tail ('irregular-tailed'), but over time it became established as the formal taxonomic family name for those African scaly-tailed gliding rodents.