Later, in order to commemorate the achievements Su Shih-wei had made to open up the new land for settlement, people chose his surname "Su" and the word "ao" meaning harbor in the Fukienese dialect to come up with the name Suao.
蘇澳正位處蘇花公路起點，而具有交通轉運的地利優勢。由於蘇花公路實施單向交通管制，所有車輛都得在此等候固定的開放時間，常可見長排的遊覽車、貨車、轎車，由管制哨蜿蜒到鎮上。乘客三五成群地購物、小吃，好不熱鬧。但自從北迴鐵路完成以後，這個地方就安靜多了。