Named after the place d'Italie, where the road from Paris to Italy began.
The square takes its name from the nearby avenue d'Italie, starting point of the road to Italy, today's N7. Officially named on 30 December 1864, it took in the old place de la Barrière d'Italie, where a tollgate stood in the Wall of the Farmers-General. On 17 April 1871 the Paris Commune renamed it place Émile-Duval; the old name returned when the uprising ended.