This mountain near the headwaters of the Fraser River was named for North West Company explorer Simon Fraser [1776–1862]. Fraser was born in Bennington, Vermont. The peak was named by the Alberta-British Columbia Boundary Commission in 1921.

The afternoon of Sunday, August 1st [1926], Messrs. Henry Hall, of Boston, J. E. Johnson, of Scarsdale, N.Y., and the writer started from the main camp at Moat Lake to the camp at Surprise Point with the intention of starting from there early Monday morning for an attempt at the Easterly “Fraser” Peak, or Mt. Bennington. However, we failed to awaken in the morning (due to late attendance at the camp-fire the previous evening), and had to give up the attempt for that day, which, of course, turned out to be perfect, and was spent in scrambling up Surprise Point!

— N. W. Spadavecchia