The name could have been derived from Dietrich von Groiz or Dietrich von Groitsch, a former owner of the estate Kulenhagen, which was already located in the forest in the Middle Ages, and then developed from Groizhorst / Groitschhorst via Cruisenhorst to today's Kreuzhorst. Perhaps the fact also played a role that the area in parts already since the 11th Century the monastery Our Lady in Magdeburg and thus the church belonged. It also seems conceivable that the monastery, for example, in the area of the confluence of the Old and New Elbe built a wayside cross and thus gave the name. In medieval documents, however, the name Kreuzhorst is not mentioned. The forest area is described only as the salbkegehten forest or the farm Kulenhagen named.
In the vicinity of the Old Elbe and on the border with Randau several parcels carry the name component Peddau, which suggests a desolate village of the same name.