'anatifer' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'anatifer,' where 'anas' meant 'duck' and '-fer' meant 'bearing' or 'carrying.'

'anatifer' was used in Medieval Latin to refer to the goose barnacle, and this term was adopted into scientific English as the name for the species Lepas anatifera.

Initially, it meant 'duck-bearing' (from the mistaken belief that barnacle geese grew from these barnacles), but now it refers specifically to the species of goose barnacle.