The local Lenape Native Americans referred to the creek by several names. The first was "Shorakapok" or "Shorackhappok", translated as “the sitting down place” or “the place between the ridges”. A second term, spelled various ways including "Paparinemo" or "Papiriniman", was shared with a triangular island formed by the junction of the creek and Tibbetts Brook in today's Kingsbridge neighborhood. The word has been translated as "place where the stream is shut" or to "parcel out" or "divide". A third name, "Muscoota", was also used.