The name derives from the ancient Noricum province of the Roman Empire on the territory of present-day Austria and the adjacent Bavarian and Slovenian area.

Referring to extinct Noricum, the designation originally comprised the Alpine mountain ranges in the medieval Bavarian stem duchy of East Francia, including the later Tyrol, Salzburg and Upper Austrian regions.

[1] In the 19th century, the German term Norische Alpen covered the whole group of ranges of the Central Eastern and Northern Limestone Alps east of the Dreiherrnspitze peak.

The Nock Mountain National Park, accessible via the Nockalmstraße scenic road, is a protected landscape according to IUCN V category.

The Norian Age in the Triassic Period of geological time is named for the Noric Alps The Italian Partizione delle Alpi classification of 1926 referred to the Alpi Noriche as the mountain chain from the Mur in the East up to the Brenner Pass in the West, including High and Low Tauern as well as Tux and Zillertal Alps.