Older Batan natives also called the island Dimavulis or Dihami, meaning "north" in Ivatan. By some members of the Spanish colonial government it was called Diami, and it is known as Yami or Y'Ami on most American Colonial Era maps of the Philippines. The latter should not be confused with the aboriginal Yami of Taiwan that live on islands farther north beyond Philippine territorial limits, but are geographically, culturally and linguistically related to the Ivatan people. The island is also called Amianan, meaning "north" in Ilocano.
