The Øfjord was named in 1891 by Carl Ryder during his 1891–92 East Greenland Expedition owing to the islands on the southern side of its mouth.

The name makes reference to the persistent katabatic winds blowing along the fjord.

[2] The 4 km (2.5 mi) to 5 km (3.1 mi) wide Ofjord is a sound with a fjord structure located in the northern Hall Gulf (Hall Bredning), part of the inner Scoresby Sound.

About 10 km (6.2 mi) before the confluence there is a sound branching on its southern shore towards the southwest, the Snesund.

[3] To the northeast the fjord is bound by Renland, a peninsula attached to the mainland, and to the south by the island of Milne Land.