The name "Kendo" seems to have been established in or around the end of Meiji period to the early Taisho period, as it recorded that Dai Nippon Butoku Kai, which was established in 1899 to restore Bujutsu, using examples from Jujutsu versus Judo of the Kodokan Judo Institute, established the Kendo name in around 1919 so that Kenjutsu and Gekken, which were handed down from the Edo period, would be introduced into physical education in the school system by changing the training methods and making it a form of mental training such as Yamato-gokoro (Japanese spirit) (Yamato-damashii [Japanese spirit]) (a poem of Sasaburo TAKANO describes, "Kendo is a God-instructed way; this technique refines Yamato-gokoro") (the term "Kendo" was used by some schools as early as the Edo period; for instance, Abe-tate densho (book) in 1667 described that since Kenjutsu was for daily use the name of Kendo would be used).
呼称は、柔術に対する講道館の柔道を参考に、明治32年に武術再興のため設立した大日本武徳会が江戸時代以来の剣術や撃剣を学校の体育教育に採用できるよう稽古法を改め、大和心（大和魂）など精神修行とする（高野佐三郎の歌にも「剣道は神の教えの道なればやまと心をみがくこの技」とある）ため、名称を大正8年（1919年）ごろ剣道としたという記録に残っており、明治末から大正初期ごろに成立したものらしい（なお剣道という用語は、例えば寛文7年（1667年）安倍立伝書に剣術は日用の術なので剣道という号にするという表現がみえるなど、江戸時代にも流派によっては使われたこともある）。