Adopted 6 April 1950 as an established name. Named in association with Klinaklini River and Klinaklini Lake.

Source: BC place name cards & correspondence, and/or research by BC Chief Geographer & Geographical Names Office staff, file C.1.49.

"The names of both the community of Kleena Kleene and of the Klinaklini River (as well as the canyon, glacier, and lake near the river) are derived from a word in the Kwak’wala language of the Kwakwaka’waka First Nation. The word ‘t’lina’ is pronounced ‘GLEET-na’ and means “eulachon (or oolichan) grease (or oil).” The grease was considered a delicacy by First Nations peoples throughout British Columbia. It was extracted from the small, oil-rich eulachon fish by the First Nations bands on the Pacific Coast and shipped along the famous “grease trails” to be traded in the Interior. Kleena Kleene is 180 kilometers due west of Williams Lake. Its first non-Aboriginal residents arrived in the early 1900s. The Klinaklini River flows southwest from Kleena Kleene to Knight Inlet." From the entry for Kleena Kleene and Klinaklini River.

Source: Thorburn, Mark; "British Columbia Place Names"; Dragon Hill Publishing Ltd., Canada, 2009, pages 148-149.