'archaeologian' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'arkhaiologia', where 'arkhaios' meant 'ancient' and 'logia' meant 'study'.

'archaeologian' developed via Medieval/Modern Latin and English formations from 'archaeology' (from Latin/Greek) with the agentive suffix '-an' (formed in English usage in the 17th–19th centuries) and served as an older or alternative term to 'archaeologist'.

Initially it referred broadly to a writer or student of ancient things; over time it came to be used (rarely or archaically) for what we now call an 'archaeologist', a specialist who studies past human activity through material remains.