Abstract: Names of traditional Chinese medicine belong to medical terminology. Those who use them involve both medical workers and common people. So names of traditional Chinese medicine should have special property and readability as well. Based on the name list of 906 kinds of Chinese medicine, the author analyzed the structure types of Chinese medicine names, and took the efficacy words in the names as a case analysis. Finally, the author pointed out the advantages and disadvantages of these drug names, and suggested how to standardize these names.

Key words: names of traditional Chinese medicine, the kinds of efficacy and shape, the kinds of composition and shape, causative expressions