The town, in turn, was named in honor of the author Charles Nordhoff who wrote the book California for Health, Pleasure and Residence, published in June 1872.

Early settlers of European ancestry were said to have been impressed with the book enough to move to and settle the area, eventually naming the town after the author.

The following statement was included in an obituary written just after his death, which occurred in San Francisco on July 14, 1901: According to local records, the name Nordhoff fell under suspicion amid increasing anti-German sentiment in the years leading up to World War I.

As part of this trend, the town was renamed Ojai in 1917, supposedly at the insistence of local businessman and philanthropist Edward Libbey.

In 2012, Nordhoff won the CIF-SS Northwestern Division by defeating title game host North Torrance High School 31–14.