The meaning or the origin of word "Hanuman" is unclear. In the Hindu pantheon, deities typically have many synonymous names, each based on the noble characteristic or attribute or reminder of that deity's mythical deed.^:31–32 Hanuman has many names like Maruti, Pawansuta, Bajrangbali, Mangalmurti but these names are rarely used. Hanuman is the common name of the vaanar (semi-ape, semi-man) god.

One interpretation of the term is that it means "one having a jaw (hanu) that is prominent (mant)". This version is supported by a Puranic legend wherein baby Hanuman mistakes the sun for a fruit, attempts to heroically reach it, is wounded and gets a disfigured jaw.^:31–32

A second, less common interpretation is that the name derives from the Sanskrit words Han ("killed" or "destroyed") and maana (pride); the name implies "one whose pride was destroyed". This epithet resonates with the story in the Ramayana about his emotional devotion to Rama and Sita. He combines two of the most cherished traits in the Hindu bhakti-shakti worship traditions: "heroic, strong, assertive excellence" and "loving, emotional devotion to personal god".^:31–32

A third conjecture is found in Jain texts. This version states that Hanuman spent his childhood on an island called Hanuruha, which served as the origin of his name.^:189

Linguistic variations of "Hanuman" include Hanumat, Anuman (Tamil), Hanumantha (Kannada), Hanumanthudu (Telugu). Other names of Hanuman include:

• Anjaneya, Anjaniputra (Kannada), Anjaneyar (Tamil), Anjaneyudu (Telugu), Anjanisuta all meaning "the son of Hanuman's mother Anjana".
• Kesari Nandan, based on his father, which means "son of Kesari"
• Maruti, or the son of the wind god;
• Bajrang Bali, "the strong one (bali), who had limbs (anga) as hard as a vajra (bajra)"; this name is widely used in rural North India.^:31–32
• Sang Kera Pemuja Dewa Rama, Hanuman, the Indonesian for "The mighty devotee of Rama, Hanuman"
• Sankata Mochana, the remover of dangers (sankata)^:31–32

Outside the Indian subcontinent, though his iconography and the details of his legends vary, his names are phonetic similar to the Indian version:

• Andaman, this name and Hanuman's mythology is behind the Indian islands in the Bay of Bengal called Andaman and Nicobar.
• Anoman (Javanese, Indonesia)
• Hanuman (Malaysia)
• Hanuman in Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand, and Balinese Indonesia.
• Hunlaman (Lao)

Vedic roots

The earliest mention of a divine monkey, interpreted by some scholars as the proto-Hanuman, is in hymn 10.86 of the Rigveda, dated to between 1500 and 1200 BCE. The twenty-three verses of the hymn are a metaphorical and riddle-filled legend. It is presented as a dialogue between multiple characters: the god Indra, his wife Indrani and an energetic monkey it refers to as Vrisakapi and his wife Kapi.^:39–40 The hymn opens with Indrani complaining to Indra that some of the soma offerings for Indra have been allocated to the energetic and strong monkey, and the people are forgetting Indra. The king of the gods Indra responds by telling his wife that the living being (monkey) that bothers her is to be seen as a friend, and that they should make an effort to coexist peacefully. The hymn closes with all agreeing that they should come together in Indra's house and share the wealth of the offerings.^:39–40

This hymn, which includes an explicit discussion of sex and differences between species, has been interpreted in a number of ways by contemporary scholars.^:305 R.N. Dandekar states that it may metaphorically refer to another fertility god, while Wendy Doniger compares it to a horse sacrifice. Stephanie Jamison states that the hymn mentions a bull-monkey, a euphemism for a horse and fertility ritual, very different from the later era Hanuman. According to Philip Lutgendorf, there is "no convincing evidence for a monkey-worshipping cult in ancient India".

Tamil roots

The orientalist F. E. Pargiter (1852-1927) theorized that Hanuman was a proto-Dravidian deity.^:40 According to this theory, the name "Hanuman" derives from the Tamil word for male monkey (ana-mandi), first transformed to "Anumant" – a name which remains in use. "Anumant", according to this hypothesis, was later Sanskritized to "Hanuman" because the ancient Aryans confronted with a popular monkey deity of ancient Dravidians coopted the concept and then Sanskritized it.^:39–40 According to Murray Emeneau, known for his Tamil linguistic studies, this theory does not make sense because the Old Tamil word mandi in Ca?kam literature can only mean "female monkey", and Hanuman is male. Further, adds Emeneau, the compound ana-mandi makes no semantic sense in Tamil, which has well developed and sophisticated grammar and semantic rules. The "prominent jaw" etymology, according to Emeneau, is therefore plausible.^:39–40

Epics and Puranas

Hanuman is mentioned in both the Hindu epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata. A twentieth-century Jesuit missionary Camille Bulcke, in his Ramkatha: Utpatti Aur Vikas ("The tale of Rama: its origin and development"), proposed that Hanuman worship had its basis in the cults of aboriginal tribes of Central India.

Hanuman is mentioned in the Puranas. A medieval legend posited Hanuman as an avatar of the god Shiva by the 10th century CE (this development possibly started as early as in the 8th century CE). Hanuman is mentioned as an avatar of Shiva or Rudra in the medieval era Sanskrit texts like the Mahabhagvata Purana, the Skanda Purana, the Brhaddharma Purana and the Mahanataka among others. This development might have been a result of the Shavite attempts to insert their ishta devata (cherished deity) in the Vaishnavite texts.

Other mythologies, such as those found in South India, present Hanuman as a being who is the union of Shiva and Vishnu, or associated with the origin of Ayyappa. The 17th century Odia work Rasavinoda by Din