Named after Intervale Avenue, which follows the valley of a buried brook.
‘Intervale’ is a mainly New England word for bottomland, recorded by Merriam-Webster in this sense since 1647. Forgotten New York says the avenue's twists mark a former stream, the Sacrahung or Bound Brook, now in an underground conduit, which cut through a vale – ‘hence Intervale’. The station lies in Intervale Valley and was formerly Intervale Avenue–163rd Street.