the earliest map, from 1790, called the lake "wubscommoug", which was also spelled "wabuskummug", an ojibwa word meaning "place of clay earth" or mud. over the next century the name went through many changes and spelling variations, such as shebaugh-tick-wyong/shebaugh-tick-wayong east lake (1816), cimung/cheemaun/chemong/shemong, and cicibatigweyong. in the 19th century, mud lake was the official name, referring to the clay mud bottom of the lake.