'Sympetalae' originates from New Latin, ultimately built from Greek elements: 'sym-' meaning 'together' and 'petalon' meaning 'petal', forming a term for plants with petals joined together.

'Sympetalae' was coined in botanical Latin in the 18th–19th centuries for use in descriptive and artificial classification systems (e.g., by Bentham & Hooker). The label described plants with sympetalous corollas and was later used as a name for groups in several classical systems before modern phylogenetic classifications replaced these ranks.

Initially, it referred specifically to a grouping of plants defined by united petals; over time its use shifted from an accepted taxonomic rank to a descriptive/historical term, and modern systems generally avoid Sympetalae as a formal clade.