Njihovo ime pomeni "rudotvorni" (iz [[grščina|grškega]] ''halkos'' = ruda in ''–gen'' = tvoriti).
Čeprav je cela skupina, vključno s kisikom, definirana kot halkogena, se kisik in oksidi običajno ločujejo od halkogenov in halkogenidov. Izraz halkogenid je ponavadipo navadi rezerviran za [[sulfid]]e, selenide in teluride, ne pa tudi za [[oksid]]e. Oksidi se običajno ne razvrščajo med halkogenide.<ref>[http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/Journal/Issues/2001/Oct/abs1333_1.html A Second Note on the Term "Chalcogen"]</ref><ref name='handbook'>Francesco Devillanova (Editor) [http://books.google.com/books?id=IvGnUAaSqOsC&pg=PT24 Handbook of Chalcogen Chemistry - New Perspectives in Sulfur, Selenium and Tellurium] Royal Society of Chemistry, 2007; ISBN 0-85404-366-7, 9780854043668</ref><ref name='IUPAC'>IUPAC goldbook [http://goldbook.iupac.org/A00266.html amides]. Chalcogen replacement analogues (of amides) are called thio-, seleno- and telluro-amides.</ref><ref name='Takahisa'>Ohno Takahisa [http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6TVX-46T3HTC-JF&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=aae920d4ee8b01faf1150483b04710a8 Passivation of GaAs(001) surfaces by chalcogen atoms (S, Se and Te)] Surface Science; Volume 255, Issue 3, 2 September 1991, str. 229-236.</ref>
