"Earl Cove" adopted 2 September 1954 on Chart #3589. Form of name changed to "Earls Cove" 3 April 1959 on 92F, to conform to the name of the post office. Official name changed to sḵelh 21 June 2023 on 92F/16 as recommended by shíshálh Nation.

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

The place name skelh is the shíshálh name for the location of present-day Earls Cove. This name is likely an ancient name and the meaning has been lost over time (advice from shíshálh Nation Stewardship and Territorial Land Management Division, 2021).

Source: included with note

sḵelh
• the s is pronounced as in English
• ḵ is pronounced as a hard ‘k’ in the back of the throat
• e is pronounced as a short ‘u’ sound as in ‘luck’
• lh sounds like the thl in English ‘athlete’
sḵelh is not capitalized.
(Advice from shíshálh Nation Stewardship and Territorial Land Management Division, 2022).

Source: included with note

Acknowledging with gratitude Steven Feschuk (xwash), Protector of Culture, shíshálh Nation, and Raquel Joe (ch’elkwilwet), Museum Curator, tems swiya Museum, shíshálh Nation, for providing the audio pronunciation.

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

To hear recordings of place names and learn other she shashishalhem words and phrases, visit shíshálh Nation’s language webpage: https://shishalh.com/culture-language/sechelt-language/

Source: included with note