'gamma-hydroxybutanal' originates from modern chemical nomenclature, combining Greek-derived 'gamma' (the third letter of the Greek alphabet used to indicate the third/γ position relative to a functional group) and 'hydroxy' from Greek 'hydro-' meaning 'water' and 'oxys' (via Latinized forms) used in chemistry to indicate oxygen-containing groups; 'butanal' comes from 'butyr-' (from Latin 'butyrum', meaning 'butter', the root used historically for four-carbon chains) plus the aldehyde ending '-al'.

'gamma-hydroxybutanal' evolved from older systematic and trivial names such as 'gamma-hydroxybutyraldehyde' and '4-hydroxybutanal' used in 19th–20th century chemical literature; the component 'butanal' came into use as a systematic replacement for older trivial names derived from 'butyraldehyde', itself formed from Latin/French roots ('butyrum'/'butyr-') and the German-coined suffix 'aldehyd' (now 'aldehyde').

Initially, related names emphasized the compound's relation to butyric or butter-derived roots and to 'aldehyde' functional group; over time the modern systematic name 'gamma-hydroxybutanal' (or the positional name '4-hydroxybutanal') has come to be the standard way to denote that a hydroxyl group is at the gamma/4 position of a butanal molecule.