Named after the rue du Faubourg-Poissonnière, part of the old fishmongers' road.
The street crossed the faubourg, the settlement outside the porte de la Poissonnerie, and formed part of the chemin des Poissonniers. As early as 1307, merchants used this road to bring North Sea fish to the central market of Paris. Called chaussée de la Nouvelle-France from 1648 and rue Sainte-Anne from 1660, it took its present name around 1750.