The first post office was called Nuevo. The town took the name Ramona in 1886, when a land speculation syndicate, headed by Milton Santee, "organized the Santa Maria Land & Water Company and acquired for a townsite in the Santa Maria Valley and named it Ramona". The next year the town reverted to Nuevo because there was another town, in Los Angeles County, called Ramona. However, the other town did not flourish, and when it was finally abandoned the present-day Ramona took that name. Today in Ramona, there stands a Mexican restaurant named "Nuevo Grill" in remembrance of the town's original name. The restaurant even features a few old pictures that date back to when the town was still called Nuevo.