In the early Qing period, when the city was part of Zhuluo County, it was known as Banxian, a Chinese transcription of the name of the local Aboriginal tribe.
彰化市是一座古城，清初稱「半線」，隸屬諸羅縣，「半線」是採自平埔族「半線社」的語音翻譯，後來才改為「彰化」。