Named after Gneisenaustraße, which honours the Prussian field marshal August Neidhardt von Gneisenau.
Gneisenau (1760–1831) reformed the Prussian army together with Gerhard von Scharnhorst and contributed decisively to the victory at Waterloo in 1815. The street received his name on 31 October 1864 as part of the Generalszug, a chain of streets recalling the wars of liberation against Napoleon; names rejected at the time were Neue Promenade and Obergürtel-Straße.