The expressway is also known as the Meihan National Highway that is a literal translation of its Japanese name.

It is owned and operated by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and is signed as an auxiliary route of National Route 25 as well as E25 under their "Expressway Numbering System.

"[1] Meihan is a Sino-Japanese pronunciation of two-character kanji acronym for Nagoya and Osaka (名阪).

The first character of three-character kanji that represents Nagoya (名古屋) is pronounced as mei, whereas the second character of two-character kanji that represents Osaka (大阪) is pronounced as han.

The rapid construction of expressways in Japan at the time was spearheaded by Minister of Construction Ichirō Kōno in preparation for the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.