Karponang House is named after a place in East Sikkim on the way to the Nathula Pass. The original place name, according to its local history, is derived from a distortion of "Nang Karpo". During the Younghusband Expedition to Tibet of 1903–1904, on seeing a white-coloured house a British officer exclaimed "Karpo Nang!" "Karpo" means "white", and "Nang" means "house", so this can be literally translated as white house.