Named after the boulevard de Picpus and the quarter of Picpus.
The name goes back to the old hamlet of Pique-Puce, but its origin is uncertain; a monk curing sores that looked like flea bites is one of the 'often fanciful' explanations. Opened in 1909 as Saint-Mandé, after its avenue, the station became Picpus on 1 March 1937 to avoid confusion with Tourelle on line 1, renamed Saint-Mandé – Tourelle that April (today Saint-Mandé).