The river was renamed in honor of DeWitt Clinton, the governor of New York from 1817 to 1823. Previously, the river had been known as the "Nottawasippee" by the French and Native Americans. The word Nottawasippee is an Anishnabek term that means "like rattlesnakes," which was a name given to the Huron people by the Ojibwa, Odawa and Bwaadaawatomee.