The name underwent a series of changes due to its difficult pronunciation by the lowland people who later settled in the area and to differentiate the town from the more famous City which also had the same etymology, resulting in the present "Ambaguio."

A handful of settlers headed by Fausto Tagangtang who came from the neighboring Mountain Province first settled in the area, establishing farmed hills and rice terraces.

Due to its terrain, distance and road problems, the inhabitants were composed only of three major tribes: Igorot, Ifugao, and Ibaloi, who unanimously called the place “Ambaguio”, which means “the land of mosses”, and “its climate is similar to that of Baguio”.

Poverty incidence of Ambaguio Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] Ambaguio, belonging to the lone congressional district of the province of Nueva Vizcaya, is governed by a mayor designated as its local chief executive and by a municipal council as its legislative body in accordance with the Local Government Code.

In 2019, Violet Lucasi, a former employee of Etihad Airways opened Nueva Vizcaya (NV) Paragliding, which later became the Ambaguio Skyport, in Barangay Tiblac, attracting both local and foreign tourists.