Adopted in the 5th Report of the Geographic Board of Canada, 30 June 1904. Confirmed 2 October 1952 on 103H, and 5 March 1953 on c.3743.

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

"Named after HM screw corvette "Clio", 1472 tons, 400 hp, 22 guns, built at Sheerness, 1857. Had two commission on this station, 1859-1862 under Captain Thomas Miller, and 1864-1868, Captain Nicholas Turnour. From 16 November to 31 December 1865, the Clio was engaged on a cruise from Esquimalt along the coast of British Columbia, as far as Port Simpson, in search of what was common in those days, the ubiquitous whiskey smuggler.... on a trip to Kitimat in December 1865, Clio bay was named by the officers of the vessel, who reported the bay as an excellent anchorage. Three small vessles were captured in the vicinity of Port Simpson, not exactly red-handed, in the whisky traffic, but near enough to satisfy Mr. William Duncan, JP, who presided at the court held on board the Clio at Port Simpson, to convict the captain and mate of the schooner Nonpareil, fining the former £800 or eight years imprisonment, and the latter £200 or two years; and Captain Jack Knight of the sloop Eagle, £500 or five years, and his mate and cook £100 or one year each. (For a long account of this cruise, taken from the diary of the pilot, see Victoria Colonist, 5 & 6 January 1866). These exceptionally severe sentences were appealed, the result being that on the prisoners being brought before Mr. Justice Bebgie on 8 January at New Westminster, they were released on their own recognizances of £100 each (Victoria Colonist, 11 January 1866) ...."

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)