It is named after the mystery of the Incarnation, which celebrates the miraculous conception of Jesus in the womb of the Virgin Mary, by which God became man according to Christian teaching.

Due to the contemporary expansion of academic construction in the West End Neighborhood, the cathedral is now surrounded by the campus of Vanderbilt University.

The first was the Holy Rosary Cathedral, which is now demolished, and which occupied the site of what is now the Tennessee State Capitol.

Construction of the Cathedral of the Incarnation began in 1910 under the direction of Bishop Thomas Sebastian Byrne.

[3] The 1987 renovation was supervised by Father Richard S. Vosko, a liturgical design consultant and priest of the Diocese of Albany who has overseen the redesign and renovation of numerous churches and cathedrals around the country.