Anterior cingulate cortex
It appears to play a role in a wide variety of autonomic functions, such as regulating blood pressure and heart rate.
Cingulate cortex
"Cingulum" means "belt" in Latin. The name was likely chosen because this cortex, in great part, surrounds the corpus callosum. 
The cingulate cortex is a part of the ""grand lobe limbique"" of Broca (1878) that consisted of a superior cingulate part (supracallosa) and an inferior hippocampic part (infracallosal). The limbic lobe was separated from the remainder of the cortex by Broca for two reasons: first because it is not convoluted, and second because the gyri are directed parasagittally (contrary to the transverse gyrification). Since the parasagittal gyrification is observed in non-primate species, the limbic lobe was thus declared to be "bestial". As with other parts of the cortex, there have been and continue to be discrepancies concerning boundaries and naming. Brodmann (1909) further distinguished Areas 24 (anterior cingulate) and 23 (posterior) based on granularity. Most recently, it was included as a part of the limbic lobe in the Terminologia Anatomica (1998) following von Economo's (1925) system.