'aralia' originates from New Latin 'Aralia', used as a botanical genus name. The modern botanical name was standardized in Linnaean taxonomy and is derived from earlier vernacular names for certain plants.

'aralia' was recorded in medieval and Renaissance botanical writings (as forms such as 'aralie' in French) referring to medicinal or aromatic plants; Linnaeus and later botanists adopted the Latinized form 'Aralia' as the genus name, which became the standard modern usage.

Initially it referred more generally to certain medicinal or aromatic plants in vernacular and early botanical texts; over time the term narrowed to denote the specific genus 'Aralia' in botanical taxonomy.