The exact origin of the name Figuera d’en Xo is unknown, although the place name appeared relatively recently. Previously, it was known as the Canal canal (1337), the Canela canal (1440) or even the Canar Nou canal. At the end of the Middle Ages, it was also known as the Gircós canal, after an old mill, and in the 17th century as the Ramis canal, after the flour mill owned by that family.

At the entrance to Banyoles, the canal splits into two branches and passes beneath Monastery Square. Within the monastic precinct, it was known as the Kitchen canal, as it supplied the monastery kitchen (its waters fed the Viver pond, where the monks kept fish for their diet).