According to Fridtjof Nansen, Dímun may represent a pre-Norse, Celtic toponymic element meaning "double-neck".

[2] The lowest third of the island is sheer cliff, with the rest rising to the mountain of Slættirnir, which reaches 414 metres (1,358 ft).

The auction was held in Hvalba on 24 July 1852, and the final bid was 4,820 Rigsdaler or 9,640 Dkk, quite a sum for the time.

Men from Hvalba and Sandvík together outbid the Factor for the royal sales-station in Tvøroyri, who kept pushing the price up.

In 1918, the Danish schooner Caspe, carrying a cargo of salt, was driven onto Lítla Dímun by a gale.

Eventually, they managed to move from the ledge, and found a cabin halfway up the island which had matches, fuel and a lamp.

They caught two sheep and a sick bird, and were able to survive for seventeen days before being discovered and rescued by a fishing boat.

The sheep are then caught, restrained by tying their feet together, put in nets five at a time and lowered by ropes to the skiffs.