The word Wantan comes from an aboriginal word meaning "marketplace." Historical records show that indigenous people lived here before the arrival of Han Chinese pioneers, who first appeared in the late Ming and early Qing periods (mid to late 17th century). The name Wantan first appears in Chinese records in a Gazetteer of Taiwan Prefecture from 1685.
根據史料記載，在漢人未移民開墾之前，萬丹是平埔族居住的區域，於明末清初之際，拓殖的移民才抵達萬丹地區，因而漢人的信史第一次出現「萬丹」這個地名，是在清康熙二十三年修訂的《台灣府志》上。