'anystidae' originates from New Latin, specifically from the genus name 'Anystis' combined with the family-forming suffix '-idae' (from Greek/Neo-Latin), where '-idae' indicates 'family of' or 'descendants/related to'.

'anystidae' was formed in modern scientific (binomial/nomenclatural) usage from the genus name 'Anystis' to create the family name 'Anystidae' according to zoological naming conventions, and has been used in taxonomic literature since the 19th century.

Initially it denoted 'those related to or descended from the genus Anystis' in a classificatory sense; it continues to mean the taxonomic family of mites but is also used generically to refer to members of that family.