'hedgenettle' originates from English, a compound of 'hedge' and 'nettle', where 'hedge' originally meant 'a fence or boundary' (from Old English 'hecg') and 'nettle' originally meant 'a stinging plant' (from Old English 'netele').

'hedgenettle' developed in Middle English as a descriptive compound combining the words for 'hedge' and 'nettle' and eventually became the modern English compound 'hedgenettle' or alternatively written 'hedge-nettle'.

Initially, the term simply described a nettle-like plant that grew by hedges; over time it became a common name applied to several unrelated or loosely related mint-family plants that resemble true nettles.