Named after the Royal Victoria Dock, which honours Queen Victoria.
The dock opened in 1855 on a previously uninhabited stretch of the Plaistow Marshes. It was planned to be bigger and better than any dock before it, and was named for the Queen. For its first 25 years it was simply Victoria Dock: the prefix 'Royal' was granted in 1880. It was the first of the three Royal Docks.