During the Ottoman period, Bornova was called "Birunabad", often rendered as "Bournabad" or "Bournabat" in Western sources, although explanations as to how that name was composed vary.
The recent discovery, within the boundaries of Bornova district, of Yeşilova Höyük, on which the fieldwork continues, seems to indicate that Bornova's alluvial plain, fed by several small streams, was the site of the very first settlement by the Neolithic-Calcolithic inhabitants of the region across present-day İzmir's metropolitan area.