The Carrier (Dakelh) name for Anahim Peak is Bes But'a, meaning obsidian peak; the word bes occurs in local English as beece, another word for obsidian and also an early designation for this mountain, although today's Beece Creek is not nearby but rather near Taseko Mountain some distance to the southeast. The name Anahim is that of Chief Anahim, a leader of the Tsilhqot'in people in the mid-19th Century.