'aspartokinase' originates as a modern biochemical coinage combining 'aspartate' + 'kinase'. 'Aspartate' ultimately comes from 'aspartic acid' (named after the plant asparagus, from Latin 'asparagus'), and 'kinase' is formed from Greek roots related to movement ('kinein'/'kinēsis') but in biochemical nomenclature denotes an enzyme that transfers a phosphate group.

'aspartokinase' developed in 20th-century enzyme nomenclature from earlier phrases like 'aspartate kinase' and 'aspartate phosphokinase'; usage settled on the condensed form 'aspartokinase' in biochemical literature.

Initially it simply meant 'a kinase acting on aspartate'; this core meaning has been retained, now specifically referring to the enzyme catalyzing formation of aspartyl-phosphate in amino-acid biosynthesis.