An early name for the town was "Paese Novo" (New Country in Italian). In 1917 the city changed name to Rosignano Solvay, where the name "Solvay" originates from the name of a big chemical factory from Belgium, the Solvay Group, which in 1914 built many buildings for treating and making chemicals, such as: Sodium hydroxide, Sodium bicarbonate and Sodium carbonate. 