Adopted in the 9th Report of the Geographic Board of Canada, 31 March 1910, as labelled on British Admiralty charts dating from 1860, and on Trutch's map of BC, 1871, and on numerous subsequent maps and charts.

Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office

Named in 1855 by Lieutenant-Commander James Alden, after his ship "Active", a US revenue and surveying vessel, 2 guns, 750 tons; the first naval steamer to make use of the passage. [ note that Walbran indicates elsewhere that Active Pass was named in 1858 by Captain Richards, HMS Plumper, upon hearing that the vessel Active had passed through before him. ] See Walbran for additional information, including the role that the crew of USS Active played in relaying news of the Fraser River gold finds to the San Fransisco miners ("the 49ers"), resulting in the 1858 rush to the Fraser River.

Source: Walbran, John T; British Columbia Coast Names, 1592-1906: their origin and history; Ottawa, 1909 (republished for the Vancouver Public Library by J.J. Douglas Ltd, Vancouver, 1971)