'Anopheles' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'anōphēlēs', where the prefix 'an-' meant 'not' and 'ophelēs' meant 'useful' (thus 'not useful' or 'harmful').

'Anopheles' was adopted into New Latin and established as the scientific genus name in entomology in the 19th century (credited in taxonomic literature from that period) and has been used in modern biological nomenclature as the genus name 'Anopheles'.

Initially, the Greek term meant 'not useful' or 'useless', but over time it has become a taxonomic name referring specifically to a group of mosquitoes, many species of which are now associated with disease transmission (notably malaria).