Originally it was written as '穴太' (read as "Anafu"); however, when the Emperor Gomurakami moved the Imperial Palace from Yoshino to this place, he changed the characters to 名生 (read as "Kanau", which in Japanese means "wish coming true") with the hope for unification by the Southern Court, and once the unification was realized in 1351 (Shohei Itto [temporal unification of the Northern and Southern Courts]), he changed the name to '賀名生' (read as "Kanau").
もと「穴太」（あなふ）と書いたが、後村上天皇が皇居を吉野からこの地に移した際に、南朝による統一を願って叶名生（かなう）と改め、さらに1351年（正平(日本)6年、北朝_(日本)の観応2年）、いったん統一が叶うと（正平一統）「賀名生」に改めたという。