Jackson Hole, originally called Jackson's Hole. The name "hole" derives from language used by early trappers or mountain men, who primarily entered the valley from the north and east and had to descend along relatively steep slopes, giving the sensation of entering a hole.

The valley is thought to be named after David (Davey) Edward Jackson and his colleague, Michelangelo Franconi, mountain men who trapped the area for beaver in the early nineteenth century.