'iron-aluminium' originates from the English nouns 'iron' and 'aluminium', where 'iron' denotes the metal iron and 'aluminium' denotes the metal aluminium (the latter name established in modern chemical nomenclature).

'iron' comes from Old English 'īsarn/īs(en)' (via Germanic roots) and developed into the modern English 'iron'; 'aluminium' was coined in the early 19th century (originally proposed as 'alumium' or 'aluminum' by Humphry Davy) and later standardized as 'aluminium'. The compound form 'iron-aluminium' is a straightforward combination of these two nouns to name an alloy or system containing both elements.

Initially each element name referred simply to the individual metal; over time the hyphenated compound came to be used specifically for alloys or intermetallic compounds containing both iron and aluminium.