'argyrosomus' originates from Greek, specifically from 'argyros' (ἀργυρός) meaning 'silver' and 'sōma' (σῶμα) meaning 'body', later Latinized with the masculine '-us' ending to form the scientific name.

'argyrosomus' was coined in modern scientific Latin (19th century) from the Greek roots 'argyros' + 'sōma' and adopted as the formal genus name in ichthyology; it has remained the taxonomic name in scientific usage.

Initially the components meant 'silver' + 'body' (i.e., 'silver-bodied'); over time the compound has come to serve primarily as the formal genus name for certain sciaenid fishes rather than a descriptive phrase.