The river's name was recorded as the  "Yeal-am-bid-gie" in 1820 by the explorer Charles Throsby.
 This was probably the collective local Moolinggolah name for the river. (
The suffix "bidgee" was common in Aboriginal languages for rivers in the Canberra area and presumably means "water" or "river".)
 The Moolinggolah people of the district around Captains Flat probably gave the Molonglo its name.
 Where the river flowed through what is now Canberra, it was probably known after the Ngambri people, transcribed as Kembury, Canberry, and other transcription variations.
The word molongolo is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning "like the sound of thunder".
The river's name was recorded as the  "Yeal-am-bid-gie" in 1820 by the explorer Charles Throsby.  This was probably the collective local Moolinggolah name for the river. (The suffix "bidgee" was common in Aboriginal languages for rivers in the Canberra area and presumably means "water" or "river".)  The Moolinggolah people of the district around Captains Flat probably gave the Molonglo its name.  Where the river flowed through what is now Canberra, it was probably known after the Ngambri people, transcribed as Kembury, Canberry, and other transcription variations. The word molongolo is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning "like the sound of thunder".
Molonglo River