An alternative historic Spanish-language place name for the creek reported in the GNIS is Sanjón de Agua con Alisos, which roughly translates to “water ditch with sycamores.”Durham, David L., California’s Geographic Names, Word Dancer Press, Clovis, Calif., 1998 (Aliso is the North American Spanish language word for Platanus racemosa, or Western sycamore, a landmark water-loving, river-bank tree species native to the area. Watercourses or irrigation channels called zanja, zanjón or sanjon are noted throughout southern California and the American Southwest generally.)
