'balaenopteridae' originates from modern scientific Latin, specifically the genus name 'Balaenoptera' plus the family suffix '-idae', where 'Balaenoptera' combined Latin 'balaena' meaning 'whale' and Greek 'pteron' meaning 'wing' or 'fin'.

'Balaenoptera' was formed in modern taxonomic Latin (19th century) by combining Latin 'balaena' (itself borrowed from Greek 'phálaina') and Greek 'pteron'; the family name 'Balaenopteridae' was later derived from that genus name using the standard zoological suffix '-idae'.

Initially the elements conveyed the image 'whale-wing' (referring to fin/wing-like appendages), but over time the combined term has come to denote this specific family of rorqual (baleen) whales.