Artsyz got its name from the French town of Arcis-sur-Aube, in Champagne, where a local military clash took place on March 20–21, 1814.

Russian Empire 1816–1917 Moldavian Democratic Republic 1917–1918 Kingdom of Romania 1918–1940 Soviet Union 1940–1941 Kingdom of Romania 1941–1944 Soviet Union 1944–1991 Ukraine 1991–present The city was founded in 1816 by German colonists from Swabia and the just dissolved Duchy of Warsaw and was named after the Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube.

Steppe towns, founded by German settlers in the Odesa region in the 1810s-1830s, were named in memory of "victories of the Russian army" in the Napoleonic Wars.

As of 1886, the German colony, the center of the Artsyz Volost of the Akkerman County of the Bessarabia Governorate, had a population of 1,503, with 122 households.

There was a prayer house, a post station, a shop, 2 inns, 2 restaurants, 2 taverns, and 2 wineries, and bazaars were held every two weeks on Tuesdays.