Adopted 7 March 1933 on C.G.S. 278A, "Prince George Sheet," as established on BC Provincial Map 3L, 1915, and in the 1930 Gazetteer of Canada. Confirmed 3 July 1946 on Map 103/SE.

Source: BC place name cards & correspondence, and/or research by BC Chief Geographer & Geographical Names Office staff, files P.3.33 and Q.1.45.

Naden is Haida name adopted by the Raven crest members who lived at the mouth of the Naden River; they were the Ne dan xada I, part of the Ecetas family. A whaling station, operated by the Pacific Whaling Co, was located in the harbour. 1911-42, crab intermittently from 1910 to ’40. A small schooner named ‘Naden,’ built in N Vancouver in 1913 for the federal hydrographic service, was loaned in WWI to the RCN at Esquimalt for training purposes. It became the depot ship for the naval shore facility, which was commissioned as HMCS ‘Naden’ in 1922 and later developed into the RCN’s main training centre on the Pacific coast. Naden Mountain, south of the Homathko River, is named after the HMCS ‘Naden.’ The Haida people know Naden Harbour as Ow’way, meaning “many sandbanks.”

Source: Scott, Andrew; "The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names"; Harbour Publishing, Madeira Park, 2009, page 106.