It is named in honour of Frank Forde, who served as Prime Minister of Australia for a week in 1945 following the untimely death of John Curtin.

[3] Three farms namely Stray Leaf, East View and Mulligans Flat predate the founding of the suburb.

The suburb includes 11 main parks and 39 hectares of wetlands and nature reserves with trails designed for eco-activity.

The reserves is also one of the best bird-watching sites in the ACT, and home to the rare regent honeyeater and Forde's own superb fairy wren.

Folds have distorted the rock with structure in the north east direction, parallel to the fault.