'antigorite' originates from Italian, specifically the place name 'Antigorio' (the Antigorio valley in Italy), combined with the mineral suffix '-ite' to form the mineral name.

'antigorite' was coined by attaching the suffix '-ite' (used for minerals) to the locality name 'Antigorio', resulting in the mineral name 'antigorite' when it was first described in scientific literature.

Initially, the name referred to the mineral specimen from the Antigorio locality, but over time it has come to denote the specific serpentine-group polymorph known as antigorite wherever it occurs.