'asterias' originates from Ancient Greek, specifically the word 'ἀστερίας' (asterías), where 'aster' meant 'star'.

'asterias' was used in Greek to mean 'starry' or 'star-like' and was later adopted into Latin and modern scientific usage as the genus name 'Asterias' for certain sea stars.

Initially, it meant 'star-like' or 'starry', but over time it came to denote a specific genus of sea stars in biological taxonomy.