Origin of Name
The name 'Gundagai' may derive from 'Gundagair', an 1838 pastoral run in the name of William Hutchinson to the immediate north of current day Gundagai. the Aboriginal word 'Gair' was recorded at Yass in 1836 by George Bennett (naturalist) and means 'bird', as in budgerigar or good bird. In that context 'Gundagai' means place of birds but that placename may refer to the area to the north of Gundagai not to Gundagai town. The word 'Gundagai' is also said to mean cut with a hand-axe behind the knee. Combining the two meanings results in the place of birds near where there is a large bend in the Murrumbidgee River that was caused by a cut in the back of the knee. This meaning presupposes that for there to be a knee there is a leg and a body which there is.
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