The col was named in Latin Collis Rotae (literally Col of the Wheel), the same meaning of its present-day French name, Col da Roue. On the official Italian maps at the beginning of the 20th century was added a h to an old name of the col, Colle della Rô, turning it in Colle della Rhô. Leter on the circumflex accent was lost ending up in Colle della Rho, the present-day most common Italian name of the col. However, on some editions of the Italian official maps of IGM and on the technical map adopted by the Regione Piemonte the circumflex accent still appears.