Tuggeranong is derived from the Aboriginal word, meaning "cold plain".

[1] The traditional custodians of the land surrounding Tuggeranong Creek are the Aboriginal people of the Ngunnawal tribe.

The creek flows generally west and north-west, through Theodore, past the playing fields located in Calwell, through Richardson where it passes close to Tuggeranong Homestead, and through Isabella Plains, gathering urban stormwater drainage.

Tuggeranong Creek is impounded at Bonython to form Isabella Pond, which is also impounded to form Lake Tuggeranong, a 57.1 hectares (141 acres) man-made artificial lake.

Although there is no clear channel, Tuggeranong Creek flows south-west to form confluence with the Murrumbidgee River, south of Greenway.