The mountains were sighted by Lieutenant James Cook but weren't given the name Bellenden Ker Range before Lieutenant Phillip Parker King named them, on 22 June 1819, whilst aboard the . Lieutenant Phillip King named the range after the English botanist John Bellenden Ker Gawler, following the suggestion made to him by his ships own botanist, Allan Cunningham. Archibald Meston was an early explorer of the range.