'Prosopis' originates from New Latin (botanical Latin), ultimately taken from Ancient Greek 'Prosōpís' (προσωπίς), used in classical sources to denote a type of shrub or small tree; adopted as a genus name in modern botanical nomenclature.

'Prosopis' was borrowed into New Latin from Greek; 19th-century botanists applied the classical name as the formal genus name 'Prosopis' in scientific classification and it has remained the modern botanical name.

Initially the Greek term referred generally to a shrub or small tree; over time it became fixed as the scientific name for a specific genus of leguminous trees and shrubs ('Prosopis') in botanical usage.