'anthracotheriidae' originates from New Latin, ultimately from the genus name 'Anthracotherium', which is derived from Greek 'ánthrax' meaning 'coal' and 'theríon' meaning 'wild beast'.

'Anthracotherium' was coined in scientific Latin for a genus named from Greek elements; the family name 'Anthracotheriidae' was formed by adding the standard zoological family suffix '-idae' to that genus name.

Initially the name literally meant 'coal beast' (a genus named for fossils found in coal-bearing strata); over time it has come to denote the scientific taxonomic family of those extinct mammals.