In folk geography, the name was used to metaphorically designate chasms, caves, shafts and other narrow, dark places; for example, in Kropa there is an oeconym Pekel originally referring to a blacksmith's shop.

Semantically related names in Slovenia include Devil's Hole (Slovene: Vragova luknja) in the settlement of Okrog and Devil's Ravine (Slovene: Hudičev graben) in the settlement of Parož.

[2] The cave's dark, black entrance inspired the idea that the Devil lived inside.

[3] Other stories of the name's origin say that one of the rocks near the entrance was thought to look like the Devil[4] or that warm water vapour drifting from the cave in the winter had an eerie effect.

Peklenščica Creek runs through the caverns of the lower part of the cave and comes bursting out of a siphon as the highest-elevation accessible subterranean waterfall in Slovenia.