Named after the town of Malakoff and the rue Étienne-Dolet.
The station's working name was simply Malakoff, the town it lies in. The street honours Étienne Dolet (1509–1546), a humanist, writer, poet and printer from Orléans. Condemned to death for heresy, he was hanged and then burned with his books on the place Maubert in Paris in 1546. Today he is remembered as a martyr of free expression and freedom of the press.