After the Wall Street Crash of 1929, Dreyer and Edy gave the flavor its current name "to give folks something to smile about in the midst of the Great Depression.

"[2] Alternatively, Fentons Creamery in Oakland claims that William Dreyer based his recipe on a Rocky Road-style ice cream flavor invented by his friend, Fentons' George Farren, who blended his own Rocky Road-style candy bar into ice cream; however, Dreyer substituted almonds for walnuts.

[4] By blending numerous ingredients such as chocolate ice cream, nuts, and marshmallows, the rocky road flavor was one of the first types to mix in the materials together.

This style was developed by Dreyer's lead chemical engineer and dairy chef Noah Holladay and proved difficult to produce due to the nature of freezing and preserving various mixed ingredients.

Over the years after the inception of the flavor, many companies would try to imitate or mix in other ingredients such as various nuts, fruits, and toppings, but the original combination proved to be the most popular.