The name is believed to derive from the Proto-Indo-European root *teh₂w-, melt, dissolve, flow. The Guinness Lake name comes from the former owners of the land. The lake is part of the former Guinness estate, owned by Arthur Guinness. Another claimed reason for it to be called the Guinness Lake is that the Guiness family imported white sand and laid it over a beach on the northern shore of the lake to make it look like a pint of Guinness.