Adopted 31 March 1924 in the 18th Report of the Geographical Board of Canada, as labelled on the Pre-emptor's Map #3L, 1915, "Graham Island."

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

Hippa Island was named in 1787 by the early British fur trader George Dixon of the ship Queen Charlotte. The fortified Haida First Nation villages reminded him of the palisaded Maori habitations he had seen in New Zealand, known as "pas" of "hippahs." The Haida knew the island as Nesto (Nasduu), meaning "impregnable"; it was rich in legends and home to three ancient village sites. During WWII a small radar station was located on Hippa Island, and in 1947 it was the site of a tragic shipwreck when the Clarksdale Victory, a US freighter heading south from Alaska, went on the rocks in a storm. Only 4 of 53 crew members survived.

Source: Scott, Andrew; "The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names"; Harbour Publishing, Madeira Park, 2009. Page 264.

The ham-shaped island is steeped in Haida legends. Every rock and reef held an ocean spirit. One particular reef at the outer end of Hippa, which has a tree upon it would return a small variety of whale to the supplicants when offerings were made as Europeans began to visit the Charlottes, Hippa received its share of naming and renaming. In 1791-92 Joseph Ingraham called it YOUNG FREDERICK'S ISLAND after his nephew. Shortly afterwards Captain Vancouver, in 1793, changed the name back to Hippa and put Young Frederick's name on the island to the north. In 1794 Lieutanant Henry Roberts prepared a coastal map and is said to have called the Hippa Island MARSHALL ISLAND. Pages 68-71.

Source: Dalzell, Kathleen E; "Queen Charlotte Islands - Book 2: of places and names"; Prince Rupert: Cove Press, 1973