'anammonid' originates from scientific Latin, specifically from 'Anammonoidea', where 'an-' means 'not' or 'without' and 'ammonoidea' refers to the ammonoid cephalopods.

'anammonid' was formed in modern scientific classification from the Greek prefix 'an-' and 'ammonoid', and eventually became the modern English word 'anammonid'.

Initially, it meant 'a cephalopod not belonging to the true ammonoids', and this meaning has remained specific to paleontology.