The album's title was meant to refer to "a beautiful woman". The phrase originated as a lyric on the previous XTC record, "Nonsuch", specifically in Partridge's song "Then She Appeared" ("then she appeared / apple venus on a half-open shell"). This continued a trend that began with "Oranges & Lemons" (1989) and "Nonsuch" (both album titles had appeared as lyrics on a track from their respective prior albums). According to Partridge, he did not realise that such a pattern had emerged, and that it was "pure coincidence, probably a sub-conscious kind of thing. You have a certain caterpillar track of words that kind of trundle around in your head." However, it was deliberate in the case of "Apple Venus".