“On the application of the owners it was Resolved that the following names for new streets be approved of: Elgin Street’ for a street on Mr. D. L. Coates’ property at Ormeau Road". (18th April 1894).
The minutes of the Town Improvement Committee of Belfast Corporation on 25 April 1894 indicate the naming of five new streets off Ormeau Road: Delhi, Candahar, Golconda, Herat and Elgin streets.
It is very likely this street was named after Lord Elgin: James Bruce (1811-63), 8th Earl of Elgin, Viceroy of India from 1862 to 1863.