The name Archaeognatha is derived from Greek, &alpha;&rho;&chi;&alpha;&iota;&omicron;&sigmaf;, (archaeos) meaning "ancient" and &gamma;&nu;&alpha;&theta;&omicron;&sigmaf; (gnathos) meaning "jaw".
An alternative name, Microcoryphia,[REF] comes from the Greek &mu;&iota;&kappa;&rho;&omicron; (micro), meaning "small", and &kappa;&omicron;&rho;&upsilon;&phi;&eta; (coryphi), which in context means "head" [REF].