Goffle Hill was first inhabited by the Lenape, whose language the ridge's historical name, Totoway Mountain, is derived from. Totoway, or the more contemporary Totowa, means ‘the falls between river and mountain'. The term was used to describe the Great Falls of the Passaic River, which spill over a notch in the ridge of First Watchung Mountain. Europeans later applied the name to the section of ridge north of the falls.