The manager of the Caloola Creek Gold Mine, in 1872, was Patrick Egan and it seems likely that the village took its official name from his surname. However, as the locality was already known as Caloola, or Caloola Creek, and it had an existing church and post office, the village was always better known as Caloola. The village seems to have grown, but not very much beyond the few buildings that were already on its site by 1871.
