When the British first took control of Hong Kong in 1842, they gave the island Sir John Davis's last name.
However, the British quickly came to the conclusion that the island was unfit for development and started looking for a location to set up a new settlement.
They eventually made their home in Kowloon, the area that is now home to Hong Kong.
In 1843, the British gave Kowloon its current name. However, the Chinese were already using the name Kowloon; they called it Gau Lung (ä¹é¾). Kowloon was thus renamed Aberdeen by the British in 1845.
The British chose to rename Aberdeen to Hong Kong in 1846 since the name Aberdeen was already in use by the Scottish port city with the same name.