The city's name derives from the Oconee, a Hitchiti-speaking tribe who inhabited central Georgia from 1692 until 1715. The Oconee lived in present-day Baldwin County, Georgia at a settlement known as Oconee Old Town, later moving to the Chattahoochee River in the early 18th century. The name exists in several variations, including Ocone, Oconi, Ocony, and Ekwoni.[4]
The city of Oconee was named after the river that bears the tribe's name. It was founded in the early 1840s, when the railroad was extended to that point.[5]