The name is believed to be derived from the Arabic phrase وادي اللب, wādī al-lubb, ‘hidden river’, or “river of the core”, because the river narrows down as it flows near to the town of Guadalupe. An alternative etymological explanation, which is commonly found on the internet, states that the name may have derived from the Arabic word for ‘valley’ or ‘river’ (wadi) and the Latin word lupus, meaning ‘wolf’. Another possibility is that it comes from وادي الحب, wādī al-hubb, meaning “River of Love”.