'm-anisaldehyde' originates from modern chemical naming in English, combining the prefix 'm-' (short for 'meta-', indicating position 3), 'anis-' from 'anise' (Latin 'anisum', from Greek 'ἄνησον' /ánēson/), and 'aldehyde' (coined in German as 'Aldehyd' from the phrase 'alcohol dehydrogenatus').

'anis-' came into English via Latin 'anisum' (ultimately Greek 'ἄνησον'); 'aldehyde' was coined in the 19th century in German from a Latinized phrase meaning 'dehydrogenated alcohol' and then adopted into international chemical vocabulary. The trivial name 'm-anisaldehyde' corresponds to the systematic IUPAC name '3-methoxybenzaldehyde'.

Initially the name parts described source or structural features (anise-like scent + aldehyde at the meta position); over time they formed a fixed trivial name referring specifically to the single compound 3-methoxybenzaldehyde used in industry and research.