'archegoniata' originates from New Latin (botanical usage), ultimately from Greek 'archegonion', where 'arche-' meant 'beginning' and 'gonē' (or related stem) referred to 'origin/seed/offspring', the term originally naming the female reproductive organ.

'archegonion' in Greek became Latinized as 'archegonium' in New Latin for the botanical organ; from that botanical Latin usage the plural/group-form 'Archegoniata' (or 'Archegoniatae') arose in 19th-century taxonomic literature to denote plants with archegonia.

Initially it referred specifically to the small female reproductive organ ('archegonium'); over time the term was extended to name a group of plants characterized by having that organ (a taxonomic or descriptive grouping), though it is now largely historical or descriptive rather than a widely used formal rank.