Some sources explain that Bà Lụa is the Chinese Vietnamese wife of an influential Frenchman coming here to exploit the area; since all of related legal papers were in her name, the islands was named Bà Lụa.

[3][4] Author Anh Dong claims that Bà Lụa ("Lady Silk") is the name of a female general in charge of military logistics who established a silk mill on the islands in order to supply Nguyễn Trung Trực's militia force.

[2] Another source says that around 1858, a feudal mandarin married a beautiful and gentle wife who wanted to stay away from the officialdom and eventually settled on the islands.

Every day she raised silkworms and wove silk, so the islands has been called Bà Lụa ever since.

[5] The archipelago, formed from lower-mid Paleozoic sedimentary rocks,[1] consists of about 34[1] (or 42[2]) islands spreading out over a 70-square-kilometer (27 sq mi) water area.