Nam Cheong station was called Yen Chow Street station (after Yen Chow Street, a major thoroughfare in the area) in its planning stage. The station was subsequently renamed "Nam Cheong" after Nam Cheong Estate, a nearby public housing estate, which in turn is named after Nam Cheong Street (another thoroughfare). Nam Cheong Street was named after Mr. Chan Nam Cheong (陳南昌), a local philanthropist. As "Nam Cheong" is also the Cantonese-based transliteration for Nanchang, some sources mistakenly state that the station was named after the mainland Chinese city.