The specific name ventriflavum comes from the Latin venter, meaning belly, and flavus, meaning yellow and refers to the golden yellow and orange coloration on the body.

The populations of several species of the water frog genus Telmatobius have declined dramatically over the past 30 years, and the genus is now thought to be extinct in Ecuador. These declines have been associated with the spread of the fungal disease chytridiomycosis.

Telmatobius ventriflavum was discovered in the species-poor coastal valleys of central Peru, a region well studied but apparently still hiding surprises.