'babushka' originates from Russian, specifically the word 'бабушка' (babushka), where 'baba' meant 'woman' or 'grandmother'.

'babushka' entered English as a borrowing from Russian in the late 19th to early 20th century; the Russian 'бабушка' itself is a diminutive form of 'baba' and became the English form 'babushka' with its senses of 'grandmother' and 'headscarf'.

Initially, it meant 'grandmother' in Russian; in English it preserved that sense but additionally came to be used for the headscarf associated with older Eastern European women and, informally, for nesting dolls.