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.