The first recorded name of the Province was Kumintang, after the Datu who inherited the dominion from Datu Balensusa. Its centre, the present day Balayan (from balay, the old Tagalog term for houses), was the most progressive town of the Province and the traditional centre of governance. Later, as the eruption of the Taal Volcano destroyed a significant portion of the town, the provincial centre was transferred to Taal, which was then called Bonbon (meaning a group of anything that is tied or piled together) and the name of the province was changed after that of the town.
For a reason unknown to even the natives of Batangas, the name of the capital was changed to Taal. It became a capital for a long time since being near the lake, it was an easy commercial centre. But being near the lake imposed a danger to the government. Another violent eruption of the Taal Volcano buried the glory of the Old Town of Taal, which made the government evacuate into another town for refuge. They choose the Town of Batangan to be the new capital and once more changed the name of the province after the town. It was under the reign of Don agustin Kasilaw (one of Batangas' gobernadorcillos), however, that the name of the town and the province became Batangas on all official records. In 1889, Batangas City became the country's 8th city.
The term batangan means a raft, the people used so that they could fish in the nearby Taal Lake. It also meant the numerous logs found in the Calumpang River, the body of water that runs through the northeastern portion of the town and assumes the shape of a tuning fork.
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