'banaba' originates from Tagalog (Philippine languages), specifically the word 'banaba', where it referred to the local name for the tree now known botanically as Lagerstroemia speciosa.

'banaba' was borrowed directly from Tagalog 'banaba' into English botanical literature in the 19th century and became used as the English common name 'banaba'.

Initially, it meant 'the local tree called banaba' in Tagalog; over time the word has been used in English with the same basic sense to denote the tropical tree (and often its medicinally used leaves).