Named after Louis Pasteur (1822–1895), whose institute is nearby.
Honoured as a father of microbiology, Pasteur helped establish the role of germs in disease, invented pasteurisation and developed vaccines, including one against rabies. The station lies on the boulevard Pasteur, a road of the former commune of Vaugirard that once extended the boulevard de Vaugirard; it was given his name on 28 July 1896, the year after his death.