The language can also be found under the forms Awety, Awetö, Aueto, Aueti, Auiti, Auití and Auetö, and similar variants.
The name of the language originates from the ethnonym [aˈwɨtɨ] by which the Awetí are known among neighbouring groups.
(That is, the first [ɨ], without stress in Awetí, was represented as ⟨e⟩, possibly for its resemblance with ‘schwa’ [ə], a common sound in German.
Today, the most common designation for the group and their language is Awetí or Aweti (the latter more often used in Portuguese).
In English, the preferred spelling has an acute accent on the final ⟨i⟩ (again in accordance with the norms established by the ABA), so as to encourage a pronunciation with stress on the last syllable, which is how the name is pronounced in Portuguese, including by the Awetí themselves when speaking Portuguese.
Sometimes (notably in the “Ethnologue”,[3] [1]) the Awetí are confused with other central Brazilian groups such as the Arauine and Arauite, both extinct in the beginnings of the 20th century.