The island was named as a mistaken apprehension of the Nuu-chah-nulth language word meaning "go around, go around". The word became applied to the island the sound surrounding it, and with time because applied to the Nuu-chah-nulth group of indigenous peoples of the west coast of Vancouver Island. They are now referred to as the Nuu-chah-nulth, a term that was coined in the 1980s meaning "along the outside".
