The larger islets are: Historical artifacts have been unearthed on the Atoll which date back to ca.

[3] Its first recorded sighting was by the Spanish navigator Álvaro de Saavedra on board the ship Florida on 29 December 1527.

[4] Together with Rongelap, Ailinginae and Toke atolls, they were charted as Islas de los Reyes (Islands of the Three Wise Kings in Spanish) due to the proximity of Epiphany.

Utirik Atoll was claimed by the German Empire along with the rest of the Marshall Islands in 1885.

Following the end of World War II, Utirik came under the control of the United States as part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.