Named after Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, which honours the socialist Rosa Luxemburg (1871–1919).
The station opened in 1913 as Schönhauser Tor, after a former city gate nearby. In 1934 it was renamed Horst-Wessel-Platz, after a Nazi ‘martyr’; in 1945 it became Schönhauser Tor again, in 1950 Luxemburgplatz and in 1978 Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz. After reunification conservative politicians wanted the original name back, but the Senate kept the long-established one.