It is named after the nearby Rue Rambuteau, which was named after Claude-Philibert Barthelot, Comte de Rambuteau (1781 - 1869), a senior official in the former Department of the Seine, who established the groundwork for the fundamental transformation of Paris that Haussmann carried out under the Second Empire.

The station opened as part of the original section of the line from Châtelet to Porte des Lilas on 28 April 1935.

As part of the "Un métro + beau" programme by the RATP, the station's corridors were renovated and modernised on 29 November 2002.

[1] In 2017, a Berlin-based fashion label, Dumitrascu, held its SS18 presentation at the station as part of Paris Fashion Week to showcase its latest collection as a result of a last-minute change of plans instead of having it at the nearby Centre Georges-Pompidou as originally planned.

[2][3] As part of modernization works for the extension of the line to Rosny–Bois-Perrier in 2023 for the Grand Paris Express, the station was closed from 5 March 2019 to 8 April 2019 to raise its platform levels and its surface tiled to accommodate the new rolling stock that will be used (MP 14) to accommodate the expected increase passengers and to improve the station's accessibility.