'Schizachyrium' originates from Greek via New Latin, specifically from the Greek elements 'schizein' and 'achyron', where 'schizein' meant 'to split' and 'achyron' referred to 'chaff' or a chaff-like part of a grass.

'Schizachyrium' was formed in modern botanical Latin (New Latin) from Ancient Greek components; it entered scientific usage as a genus name in botanical literature in the 19th or early 20th century and has been used in that form since.

Initially the parts of the name described a morphological feature ('split chaff' or a split chaff-like structure); over time the compound came to be used as a stable scientific name referring to the whole genus rather than the literal descriptive parts.