Wickepin's name is of Aboriginal origin, was first recorded in 1881, but the meaning is not known. Until 1908, the area was sometimes known as Yarling, the name of a spring in the area; Yarling Well is west of the town. The area was leased in the early 1870s, but started to grow after the construction of the Great Southern Railway in 1889. The land was opened up by the State Government in 1893, and by 1906 a town had started to develop.