About the origin of the name Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū, the Azuma Kagami says that:
"Minamoto no Yoriyoshi, after his victorious campaign against Abe no Sadatō, in August 1063 erected this temple and transferred in it part of Kyoto's Iwashimizu Hachiman-gū's ''kami''.〔A ''kami'' is transferred from a shrine to another through a process of subdivision and transfer called . The shrine which receives the kami is usually considered of a lower status〕 In February 1081 the shrine was repaired by Minamoto no Yoshiie."

It is likely that this area was then called "Tsurugaoka".
On the 12th day of the 10th month of 1180〔Lunar date〕 Minamoto no Yoritomo, in order to worship his ancestors, had Yui Wakamiya transferred from its current spot to the mountain north of an area called Kobayashi, and that became Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū. When the ''Azuma Kagami'' says that Minamoto no Yoritomo at last visited his distant ancestors at Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū, it means this shrine. The new shrine used its predecessor's name without changes. From that moment, this place has been called Moto Hachiman.