'babushka' originates from Russian, specifically the word 'бабушка' (babushka), where 'баба' ('baba') meant 'woman' or 'grandmother' and the suffix '-ушка' was a diminutive.

'babushka' was borrowed into English from Russian in the late 19th to early 20th century; the Russian 'бабушка' ('babushka') entered English use referring to a grandmother and later also to the headscarf associated with such women.

Initially, it meant 'grandmother' in Russian, but in English it also came to refer to the style of headscarf worn by older women and, by extension, to elderly women collectively.