Other population centres in Herøy include the villages of Leikong, Kvalsund, or Moltustranda.

[4][5] The prestegjeld (parish) of Herøy was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law).

On 1 January 1889, the Eiksund area and Ekø island (population: 119) were transferred from Sande to Herøy.

On 1 January 1964, three farms in the Gurskedalen valley (population: 25) were transferred from Herøy to Sande.

Also on that date, the Eiksund area and the Eika island (population: 222) were transferred from Herøy to neighboring Ulstein Municipality.

[6] The municipality (originally the parish) is named after an archipelago of small islands (Old Norse: Herøyjar).

On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Herøy.

The official blazon is "Azure, two ship bows argent issuant from the flanks" (Norwegian: På blå grunn to motstilte sølv skipsstamnar).

The charge has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used.

The main population and administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Fosnavåg, located on the island of Bergsøya.