'aubretia' originates from French, specifically the surname 'Aubriet', used to form the Latinized botanical name 'Aubrieta' in honor of Claude Aubriet, a French botanical illustrator.

'aubretia' changed from the Latinized botanical name 'Aubrieta' (derived from the French surname 'Aubriet') and eventually became the modern English common name 'aubretia'.

Initially, the term referred to the person being honored ('Aubriet'); over time it came to denote the plant genus and, in common usage, the plants of that genus.