Tranøy means "crane" and the last element is "øy" which means "island". Prior to 1909, the name was written "Tranø". The coat of arms is from modern times; they were granted on 15 May 1987. The arms are silver or white with a black Atlantic halibut "(Hippoglossus hippoglossus)" in the center. The fish is a main species of local fish, which symbolizes the importance of fishing for the local community. In addition to this, the fish played a major role in local legends, similar to the role of bears in land-based legends. The Church of Norway has one parish "(sokn)" within
Flying fish striking their prey. The oldest known fossil of a flying or gliding fish, "Potanichthys xingyiensis", dates back to the Middle Triassic, 235–242 million years ago. However, this fossil is not related to modern flying fish, which evolved independently about 66 million years ago. The term Exocoetidae is both the scientific name and the general name in Latin for a flying fish. The suffix "-idae", common for indicating a family, follows the root of the Latin word "", a transliteration of the Ancient Greek name . This means literally "sleeping outside", from "outside" and "bed", "resting place", verb root κει- "to