The lake has become famous beyond Central Massachusetts for having the longest name of any geographic feature in all of the United States.

The lake's name comes from the Algonquian language of the Nipmuc and is often said to mean, "Fishing Place at the Boundaries—Neutral Meeting Grounds".

Many area residents and the official website of the town of Webster consider the longer version correct.

[1][12] According to Ives Goddard, Curator of Anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution, Daly created this "monstrosity" around 1921, though this is probably not correct, as the name was in use as early as c. 1910 on postcards.

[16] Although the lake is natural in origin, its outlet has a dam that raises the water level by roughly 2 feet (0.61 m).

[17] The dam initially provided water for a mill, and subsequently, the water rights to the lake were owned by Cranston Print Works; currently, the dam is owned by Webster Lake Preservation LLC.

For never shall that number down, Tho Gogg and Magogg shout and thunder; Char­gogg­a­gogg­man­chaugg­a­gogg­chau­bun­a­gung­a­maugg's renown Shall blaze, the beacon of the town, While nations gaze and wonder.

The second, "The Lake Song (Char­gogg­a­gogg­man­chaugg­a­gogg­chau­bun­a­gung­a­maugg)", was recorded by Ethel Merman and Ray Bolger and released in 1954 by Decca and incorporates the tale about the lake's name according to the name's inventor, Laurence J. Daly, editor of The Webster Times.