'Apogonidae' originates from New Latin, specifically formed from the genus name 'Apogon' plus the family suffix '-idae', where 'Apogon' derives from Greek elements meaning 'without beard' (a- 'without' + pōgōn 'beard').

'Apogon' was coined as a genus name (from Greek) and later the standard zoological family-forming suffix '-idae' was added in New Latin to create 'Apogonidae', the modern family name used in taxonomy.

Initially the root referred to the genus name meaning 'beardless' (descriptive of the fish), and over time the combined form came to denote the entire family of fishes (cardinalfishes).