Downstream of the Katsura-gawa River, flowing south into the Kyoto Basin used to be called the Kadono-gawa River, according to the Yamashiro-koku Fudoki (regional gazetteers of Yamashiro Province; incomplete work) and the Nihon Koki (Later Chronicle of Japan).
「山城国風土記」（逸文）や「日本後紀」によると、京都盆地流入以南の桂川は、古くは葛野川（かどの）と呼ばれていた。