'Balanops' originates from New Latin, ultimately from Ancient Greek; specifically from the Greek word 'balanos' and the element 'ops', where 'balanos' meant 'acorn' and 'ops' meant 'appearance' or 'face'.

'Balanops' was coined in botanical (New Latin) usage by combining Ancient Greek elements 'balanos' + 'ops' to form a genus name; this formation passed into modern botanical nomenclature as the genus name 'Balanops'.

Initially the components literally described an 'acorn-like appearance'; over time that descriptive phrase became fixed as the formal name of the genus 'Balanops'.