Named after the Puy de Dôme dormant volcano, its inhabitants were called Puydedomois in French until 2005.

Originally, the department was to be called Mont-d'Or ("Golden Mountain"), but this was changed to Puy-de-Dôme following the intervention of Jean-François Gaultier de Biauzat, a local deputy, because of a concern that the name originally chosen risked attracting excessive unwelcome attention from the national taxation authorities.

Puy-de-Dôme is part of the current region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and is bordered by the departments of Loire, Haute-Loire, Cantal, Corrèze, Allier, and Creuse.

Population development since 1801:The departmental seat, Clermont-Ferrand, is home to one of the country's best known manufacturing businesses and brands, Michelin.

[6] The department was the electoral constituency of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, who served as President of the Republic from 1974 to 1981.