'non-neurotypical' originates from English, specifically formed from the prefix 'non-' (from Latin 'non') and the adjective 'neurotypical', where 'non-' meant 'not', 'neuro-' (from Greek 'neuron') meant 'nerve', and 'typical' (from Greek/Latin 'typicus/typicus') meant 'characteristic or model'.

'neurotypical' was coined by combining 'neuro-' + 'typical' in late 20th-century usage related to psychology and developmental descriptions; the construction 'non-' + 'neurotypical' emerged later (late 20th to early 21st century) within medical, advocacy, and neurodiversity discourse to label the opposite condition or identity, eventually becoming the modern English compound 'non-neurotypical'.

Initially, 'neurotypical' meant 'having typical neurological development or functioning', and 'non-neurotypical' originally meant simply 'not typical in neurological development'; over time the term has also been adopted as an identity label within neurodiversity communities and used more broadly in social and policy contexts.