'asha' in the sense of the South Asian name or the common noun meaning 'hope' originates from Sanskrit, specifically the word 'āśā' (आशा), where the root 'āś-' related to desire/expectation. The religious/conceptual sense 'Asha' (truth, order) originates from Avestan 'asha' (also written 'arta' in Old Persian), an ancient Iranian word meaning 'truth' or 'right order'.

'asha' (Sanskrit 'āśā') passed into modern Indic languages (e.g. Hindi 'āśā' → written and spoken as asha in transliteration) and was borrowed into English contexts as a proper name and occasional loanword. Separately, Avestan 'asha' evolved into Middle Persian forms (often as 'arta') and entered modern scholarship and translations as the term 'Asha' for the Zoroastrian concept.

The South Asian term originally meant 'wish/hope' in Sanskrit and has largely retained that sense in modern Indic languages and when used as a given name. The Avestan term originally meant 'truth/right order' and has remained relatively stable in meaning within religious and scholarly contexts.