There are 2 different explanations as to where the name Yatsuhashi came from with one being 'Yatsuhashi in Mikawa Province,' where the story was set in the ninth chapter of the Tale of Ise 'Kakitsubata (water irises)' and with the other being it was made into the shape of a koto after Kengyo Yatsuhashi.
名前の由来は伊勢物語の九段「かきつばた」の舞台となった「三河国八ツ橋」の故事にあるという説と、八橋検校の名にちなんで箏の形を模したことに由来する説とがある。