The mountain's Gaelic name translates as the Red Stack or Red Conical Hill; this is slightly confusing and misleading, as it is invariably seen as a light-grey hill due to its quartzite rocks. Hamish Brown comments on the name thus: An Ruadh-stac is a grey hill, sometimes touched white by the sun but never red like its ruddy, bald headed neighbour (Maol Cheann-dearg).