'anthropometrics' originates from Greek roots 'anthropos' and 'metron', where 'anthropos' meant 'human' and 'metron' meant 'measure'; the modern English formation adds the suffix '-ics' to indicate a field of study.

'anthropometrics' developed from the noun 'anthropometry' (from Greek 'anthropos' + 'metron') by adding the English suffix '-ics' to denote the scientific discipline; 'anthropometry' entered English via scientific Latin and French usage in the 18th–19th centuries.

Initially it referred specifically to the measurement of human bodies ('measurement of humans'), and over time it retained that central sense while broadening to refer both to the field of study and to the resulting measurement data ('the scientific study of human body measurements and the data produced').