'areographer' originates from New Latin/Greek, specifically the combining form 'areo-' from Greek 'Ares' (the god of war, used for the planet Mars), where 'areo-' meant 'of or relating to Mars', plus the suffix '-grapher' from Greek 'graphein' meaning 'to write/draw'.

'areographer' developed by analogy with words like 'geographer' and from the modern scientific coinage 'areography' (the study or mapping of Mars), eventually forming the English noun 'areographer' to denote a person who maps Mars.

Initially coined to mean 'a person who writes about or maps Mars,' the term has retained this specialized meaning in modern usage.