Adopted as a post office and cannery 31 December 1930 in 1930 Gazetteer of Canada. Namu status changed to "post office" on 30 September 1946 on Hydrographic Services Chart #3797 "Namu Harbour - Plans in vicinity of Queen Charlotte and Fitz Hugh Sound." Namu status changed to "post office and steamer landing" 31 December 1953 in the 1953 Gazetteer of Canada. Namu status changed to "locality" 28 February 1983 on Map 92M/13.

Source: BC place name cards & correspondence, and/or research by BC Chief Geographer & Geographical Names Office staff, file H.1.46.

Evidence indicated that First Nations people have lived in this fishing community for at least 11,000 years, making it the longest continuously occupied place in Canada. The first non-Aboriginal settlers arrived in 1893. Namu is Heiltsuk (Bella Bella) First Nation word that has variously been translated as “place of high winds” and “closely alongside.” This town is near the mouth of the Burke Channel, southeast community of Bella Bella.

Source: Thorburn, Mark; "British Columbia Place Names"; Dragon Hill Publishing Ltd., 2009, page 207.

Namu is Heiltsuk First Nation word meaning “place of high winds,” referring especially to the SE blasts that sweep over the 914-m Namu Range and give nearby Whirlwind Bay its name. Archeological excavations have revealed that Namu was used by aboriginal people as a habitation site, at least seasonally, for 11,000 years or more and is thus one of the longest continually occupied places in Canada. In 1893, Robert Draney built cannery at this spot and added a sawmill in 1911. The cannery was rebuilt and changed hands several times, eventually becoming one of the largest and most efficient fish-processing complexes on the BC coast. BC Packers Ltd was owner by 1928 and added a reduction plant, a cold-storage component and a modern ship-repair yard. Fire destroyed the facility in 1961 but it was rebuilt, and the cannery operated until 1970, the cold storage until 1988. BC Packers sold the site in 1991, and subsequent owners have fought a losing battle to maintain marine services and reserve Namu’s buildings, with the hope of establishing some kind of tourism or heritage attraction. Namu Lk and Namu R derive their names from the community and harbour.

Source: Scott, Andrew; "The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names"; Harbour Publishing, Madeira Park, 2009, page 417.