The administrative center was the village of Sira where Bakke Church is located.

This occurred because the main church parish of Bakke contained land in both the counties of Stavanger and Lister og Mandal and they had to be divided according to the newly passed formannskapsdistrikt law.

[5] On 1 January 1965, another major municipal merger took place due in part to the work of the Schei Committee.

The name is the plural form of bakki which means "river bank" or "ridge".

[8] The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Bakke was made up of representatives that were elected to four year terms.