'Anagallis' originates from Neo-Latin (botanical Latin), ultimately borrowed from an Ancient Greek word recorded as 'anagallís' (ἀναγάλλις) used in classical sources for a small plant; the name was Latinized for botanical use.

'Anagallis' passed into scientific Latin (Neo-Latin) as a genus name in botanical works (established in 18th-century taxonomy) and was then adopted unchanged into English botanical vocabulary as 'Anagallis'.

Originally the term referred in Greek sources to a small plant (or a name of a plant); over time it was Latinized and came to denote the specific botanical genus 'Anagallis' in modern taxonomy.