Adopted 11 February 1936 on 92G/3, as labelled on Trutch's 1871 map of British Columbia, and on BC Lands map 2B, 1914, etc...

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

Named in 1862 by Colonel Moody, RE, in command of a detachment of the Royal Engineers then stationed at New Westminster, after Lulu Sweet, a young actress travelling with the first theatrical troupe that ever acted in that city. "Her conduct, acting and graceful manners gave great satisfaction, and were appreciated to such an extent by her friends and patrons that the island was named after her." (Communicated by Lieut.Colonel R. Wolfenden, ISO, King's Printer, Victoria. See also Victoria Colonist, 8 & 9 September 1862.)

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)

As reported in the 1897 British Columbia Year Book, Lulu was a Hawaiian woman in the employ of the Hudson's Bay Company. [certainly hundreds of Hawaiians were employed by the Company from the 1820s onwards, several had accompanied McMillan's 1824 exploratory party to survey the lower reaches of the Fraser River, returning in 1827 to construct the Fort Langley post. At times over the next years the majority of Fort Langley employees were of Hawaiian descent, but HBC archives don't describe any incident or occasion that would warrant such a gesture.]

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

John Morton, his cousin Sam Brighouse, and their friend William Hailstone were pioneer settlers [on this island] at the mouth of the Fraser River, all arriving in 1862. Their recollections of the early days were published in 1925 by Morton's nephew, Charles Frederick Morton. They said that the name Lulu Island was from an Indigenous word meaning 'portage' as there was no other way of crossing the river save by canoe. This, while it would not necessitate a portage, is perhaps corroborated by the fact that there was a trail at that time across the island to the salmon traps of the Indigenous peoples. The word "lolo" is the Chinook jargon word meaning "to carry" and could imply a "portage".

Source: Nelson, Denys; Place Names of the Delta of the Fraser River; 1927, unpublished manuscript held in the Provincial Archives