'astarte' originates from Northwest Semitic, specifically the name 'ʿAštart' (Phoenician/Ugaritic), where the root 'ʿštr' functioned as a theonym often glossed as 'lady' or was associated with fertility and sexuality.

'astarte' changed from the Phoenician/Ugaritic 'ʿAštart' into the Greek 'Astarte' (Ἀστάρτη) during Hellenistic contacts and was carried into Latin as 'Astarte', eventually appearing in modern English as 'astarte'.

Initially it served as the proper name or title meaning roughly 'lady' for a specific goddess of fertility/sexuality; over time the name became associated more broadly with fertility, love and sometimes war and was often conflated with similar Near Eastern goddesses such as 'Ishtar'.