Named after Fanningerstraße, which honours Carl Wilhelm Fanninger, a Lichtenberg landowner.
Carl Wilhelm Fanninger (1792–1856) was a ministry official and estate owner in the municipality of Lichtenberg. From 1897 to 1935 the street was called Wagnerstraße, after the composer Richard Wagner; it got its present name in 1935. The Sana Klinikum Lichtenberg stands at number 32.