[4] The suburb is named after Thomas Aitken, the original grantee of Portion 38, Parish of Coonambelah.

During World War II, the Royal Australian Air Force occupied the building with services again being held in private homes.

[7] During the Second World War, Aitkenvale was home to the US Army's 13th Station Hospital, which comprised a 450-bed facility, located on the corner of Hatchett Street and Ross River Road.

Also, during the war, The area was the site of an aerodrome, located near Aitkenvale Weir on the banks of the Ross River.

It was built in 1942 for the Royal Australian Air Force as part of a group of wartime airfields.

[7][10][11] The suburb was affected by the 2019 Townsville flood with riverside areas around Thompson Street inundated, along with Ross River Road adjacent to the Aitkenvale Library where two bodies were found nearby in the aftermath.

The other top responses for country of birth were New Zealand 1.9%, England 1.9%, India 1.4%, Philippines 1.2% and Somalia 1.0%.

79.0% of people spoke only English at home; the next most common languages were 2.2% Somali, 1.0% Mandarin, 0.9% Swahili, 0.8% Vietnamese and 0.6% Karen.

The other top responses for country of birth were India 1.9%, New Zealand 1.8%, England 1.5%, the Philippines 1.4% and Somalia 0.9%.

76.5% of people spoke only English at home; the next most common languages were 1.9% Swahili, 1.6% Somali, 0.7% Punjabi, 0.6% Tagalog and 0.6% Mandarin.