Early on Kungkuan was known as Ailiaohsia or Ailiaochiao (meaning "below the gap" or "at the foot of the gap"). The local government administration was set up here under Japanese rule, from whence comes the name Kungkuan, which means (roughly) "city hall."
早期名為「隘寮下」或「隘寮腳」，日據時代在此設庄役場，是官府辦公所在，「公館」之名因此而來。