'Aphelandra' originates from Greek, specifically from the combining forms 'apheles' and 'andros', where 'apheles' meant 'simple' and 'andros' meant 'male' (referring to stamens).

'Aphelandra' was coined in New Latin (botanical Latin) from Greek elements 'apheles' + 'andros' and entered modern scientific English as the genus name 'Aphelandra'.

Initially the component elements referred to 'simple' and 'male' (stamen), and over time the combined form came to be used as the proper name for a plant genus rather than a literal descriptive phrase.