Named after the Iderfenngraben, a ditch (‘Graben’) at the street’s western end.
The street was laid out in 1904 as Zietenstraße, after the Prussian hussar general Hans Joachim von Zieten. In 1951 the Magistrat of Greater Berlin renamed it as part of an anti-royal renaming campaign, choosing the local ditch instead. The street crosses both the Iderfenngraben and the Zingergraben.