The generic name Geocolaptes combines the Classical Greek geō meaning "ground" with the genus name Colaptes that had been introduced by the Irish zoologist Nicholas Aylward Vigors in 1825. Colaptes comes from the Ancient Greek kolaptēs meaning "chiseller".
The name Geocolaptes results from the combination of two words in Classical Greek, where "geō" signifies ground and "Colaptes" originates from the Ancient Greek term for chiseller.