Named after the place Marcel-Sembat, which honours Marcel Sembat (1862–1922).
The square began around 1822 as a crossroads on the new road to Versailles and was first called the carrefour des Quatre-Cheminées. Sembat, a lawyer and journalist, was socialist member of parliament for the 18th arrondissement of Paris from 1893 until his death and minister of public works from 1914 to 1916. He was among the politicians most committed to women's rights.