[citation needed] Despite some beliefs, the origin of the word chhagal (ছাগল, 'goat') in Chhagalnaiya has no connection to the Gandhi's goat stealing incident of 1946.

[a][5] The Chhagalnaya-Parshuram region, located in this relatively ancient part of Noakhali, had a large portion of its area submerged underwater in the distant past.

Numerous boat wrecks have been discovered in this area once inhabited by boatmen, referred to as sagarer naiya (Bengali: সাগরের নাইয়া, lit.

Over time, sagarer naiya evolved into sagarnaiya in folk language, and eventually into chagalnaiya, the term used today.

Some accounts suggest that during the early British period, the word sagar (sea) was mistakenly transcribed as sagol, resulting in sagolnaiya or Chhagalnaiya.