'babblers' originates from English, specifically the word 'babbler', where 'babble' meant 'to utter meaningless or foolish talk' and the agent suffix '-er' meant 'one who does'.

'babbler' developed from Middle English and Old French sources: Middle English/Old French forms such as 'babelen'/'babiller' (imitative of meaningless speech) influenced the verb 'babble', to which the agentive suffix '-er' was added to form 'babbler', later pluralized as 'babblers'.

Initially, the root 'babble' imitated infantile or meaningless sounds ('to make nonsense sounds'); over time it came to mean 'to speak rapidly or foolishly', and 'babbler' came to mean both a person who does this and, by extension, certain noisy, chattering birds.