Named after the Totten family, local landowners.
Captain Christopher Billop (1638–1726), one of the first settlers, called the place Bentley Manor, after his ship, the Bentley. In 1869 it was renamed Tottenville, apparently in honour of John Totten and the locally prominent Totten family, who had owned much land here in the 18th century. Several Tottens were Loyalists during the American Revolution.