| Feature Type: | Island - Land area surrounded by water or marsh. |
| Status: | Official |
| Name Authority: | BC Geographical Names Office |
| Relative Location: | SE end of Queen Charlotte Strait, between Malcolm Island and Port McNeill (community), Rupert Land District |
| Latitude-Longitude: | 50°35'35"N, 126°55'42"W at the approximate centre of this feature. |
| Datum: | WGS84 |
| NTS Map: | 92L/10 |
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Origin Notes and History:
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Adopted 6 April 1950 on 92/NW as labelled on BC map 2C, 1919 et seq, and as identified in the 1930 BC Gazetteer. Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office |
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Named in 1846 by Commander George T. Gordon, RN, after HM paddle sloop Cormorant, 6 guns, built in 1842. On this station 1844-50, being the first naval steam vessel in these waters. Cormorant Rock was shown on the first survey of Beaver Harbour, made by Lieutenant George Hope Mansell in 1851. 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) |
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The Kwak'waka'wakw name is 'Yalis, referring to the feminine qualities which make it a safe haven. [note that Museum at Campbell River identifies 'yalis as a winter village on Cormorant Island, rather than the island itself ]. Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office |