Hooker Island was discovered by the 1880 expedition to Franz Josef Land led by Benjamin Leigh Smith.

[1]: 131  It was named after British naturalist Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker who went with James Clark Ross' expedition on ships Erebus and Terror to Antarctica in 1839.

Caribou antlers have been found as well, suggesting that herds reached here up to about 1,300 years ago during a period where the earth had a warmer climate.

[3][4] Tikhaya Bay was the site of a major base for polar expeditions, and the location of a meteorological station from 1929 to 1963.

The island was visited by the Graf Zeppelin airship in July 1931 during a landmark aerial survey.

[5] The highest point in Hooker Island is the summit of the western ice dome, Kupol Dzhensona (Купол Дженсона), at 576 metres (1,890 feet).

This island was named in honor of Sir John Scott Keltie (1840-1927), Scottish geographer.

Alfred Edvin Eaton (1844-1929), who studied the Arctic flora and fauna and travelled to Svalbard and Kerguelen.