The mountain was named by James Hector in 1859 for William J. Christie, a Canadian explorer and politician. Christie was the Chief factor at the Hudson's Bay Company in Fort Edmonton when Hector and the Palliser expedition wintered there in 1858-1859. The first ascent of the mountain was made in 1930 by W.R. Hainsworth, J.F. Lehmann, M.M. Strumia, and N.D. Waffl. The mountain's name was officially adopted as Mount Christie in 1947 by the Geographical Names Board of Canada.