'asphodelaceae' originates from New Latin, specifically formed from the genus name 'Asphodelus' plus the standard botanical family suffix '-aceae', where 'Asphodelus' referred to the asphodel plant and '-aceae' denotes 'family of'.

'asphodelaceae' derives via New Latin from the classical Latin/Greek name 'Asphodelus' (from Greek 'asphodelos' ἀσφόδελος for the asphodel plant), and was established as a family-name using the suffix '-aceae' in modern botanical nomenclature to produce the modern English 'asphodelaceae'.

Initially the root referred to the single plant name 'asphodel' (the genus Asphodelus); over time the term has been extended in scientific usage to denote the whole plant family 'Asphodelaceae'.