In Serbian, the village is known as Banatski Despotovac or Банатски Деспотовац (formerly also Ernestovac / Ернестовац), in Hungarian as Ernőháza, and in German as Ernsthausen.
The current Serbian name for the village is derived from the Serbian word "despot" (a Medieval ruling title), while the word "banatski" refers to its location in the region of Banat in contrast to the town of Despotovac located in Šumadija and Western Serbia.