In 1808, James McKenzie of the North West Company used the name "Lake Mistassini" in his writings, the first use of the name in its current form. Nevertheless, other variants persisted long after: for instance, the explorer James Clouston inscribed "Mistassinnie" in his diary of 1820, while the geologist Robert Bell mentioned in 1880 the name "Misstissinny". Yet, thereafter, "Mistassini" became the accepted form, as evidenced by the map of the province of Quebec drawn in 1880 by Taché, and the expedition report published by Albert Peter Low in 1885, and in his Annual Report of 1900, Bell also adopted the current spelling.