ladybird

Ladybird comes from lady + bird, where lady refers to the Virgin Mary. The name likely began as a devotional nickname for the beetle, linking its small, spotted form to Mary.

The word has stayed close to its religious roots in form, simply joining 'lady' (Mary) with 'bird' to name the beetle, without a documented shift in meaning beyond that.

Many European languages made the same devotional link: German Marienkäfer ('Mary beetle'), Danish mariehøne, Latvian mārīte, Macedonian бубамара, and Spanish mariquita all name the beetle after Mary. It's also worth comparing damselfly, another insect name built from a term for a woman.