Derybasivska Street was previously named Gimnazskaya (Gimnazicheskaya) Street after the Gymnasium which opened April 16, 1804. It was renamed for de Ribas on July 6, 1811, being called Deribasovskaya or de Ribasovskaya or even Ribasovskaya. During the first years of Bolshevik rule (1920–1938) it was named after the German socialist Ferdinand Lassalle.