'Carapa' originates from botanical Latin, probably adapted from an indigenous South American language (likely Tupi–Guarani) in which a similar word referred to the local tree.

'Carapa' was recorded in 18th-century botanical descriptions (notably by J.B.C.F. Aublet) and was adopted as the scientific genus name in botanical Latin.

Initially it referred to the local common name for the tree; over time it evolved into the formal scientific genus name 'Carapa' used in taxonomy.