'anthropogeography' originates from Modern English, composed of the Greek elements 'anthropo-' and 'geography', where 'anthropos' meant 'human' and 'geographia' meant 'earth description'.

'anthropogeography' was formed by compounding 'anthropo-' (from Greek 'anthropos') with 'geography' (from Greek 'geographia' via Latin and Old French), eventually becoming the Modern English compound 'anthropogeography'.

Initially it referred to the description of humans in relation to the earth; over time it came to denote the broader academic study of human distribution, activities, and cultural landscapes (i.e., human geography).