Montblanc has had three names throughout history. At about 1080 the name was Duesaigües, near the confluence of Francolí and Anguera rivers. This place was later called Vila-Salva from 1155 and become a royal town. In 1163 the town moved to the present area and was called Montblanc.

The name of Montblanc (Montis Albis) refers neither to a snowed mountain nor to a calcareous mountain. It adopts this name as a synonym of mountain without vegetation, typical of the clay soil hill called Pla de Santa Bàrbara.

Every year, during the celebration of the Setmana Medieval de Sant Jordi there is a Town Plenary in which the town councillors are dressed like the ones in the medieval period and they wear the symbols of authority in memory of an old privilege.