Báiyún is Mandarin Chinese for White Clouds, derived from views of the mountain's peaks shrouded in mist during late Spring or after a rain. Its former English name, Pakwan, is a form of the Cantonese pronunciation of the same name. In English, it is also known as White Cloud Mountain, Mount Baiyun, Baiyun Shan, or—since the mountain is, properly speaking, a mountain range—the Baiyun Mountains.