'Anahita' originates from Avestan, specifically the word 'Anāhitā', where 'a-' meant 'not' and 'nāhitā' meant 'defiled' (together conveying 'immaculate' or 'undefiled').

'Anahita' changed from the Avestan 'Anāhitā' into Middle Persian forms such as 'Anāhīd'/'Anahīt', passed into Armenian as 'Anahit' and into Greek as 'Anaitis', and eventually entered modern English as 'Anahita'.

Initially it meant 'immaculate' or 'undefiled' (a descriptive epithet); over time it became the proper name of a water and fertility goddess and later a common female given name.