According to A. Figueroa, ‘agdao’ was named after an ethnomedicine plant in the Boraginaceae family which natives used for convulsion by extracting its juice. The poultice is then placed on the fontanel (alimpulo) of a child until the fever subsides.
In Sama-Bajau languages, it is a kind of tree or species of hardwood that is prized for its durable timber.
In Bagobo, ‘agdao’ means elder.