The name dates back to at least 1753, when 'Cargen bridge croft' is recorded in the Kirkcudbrightshire land tax roll.

It may be a compound formed from cajr 'enclosed, defensible site'[4]: 49  and one of the following elements, which likely refer to an earlier name for Cargen Water:[4]: 52 Alternatively, it may be from the root carreg 'a rock, a rocky place' + the suffix -an.

The extension of the boundaries of the county of Dumfriesshire over the River Nith did not extend as far as Cargenbridge.

[7]: 305 Curriestanes cursus, a large Neolithic monument now only visible as a crop mark, sits just above the village.

William Somervell (died 1698), minister of Troqueer parish, left money to found the school.