The English name of the university had been Kinki University since its establishment in 1949 to refer to "the surrounding area of the capital city (Kyoto)". On May 20, 2014, the university announced that its English name would officially change to , to avoid the implications of the word "kinky", as the university was planning to globalize with the establishment of a new Foreign Language school. The name change took effect on April 1, 2016.
