The earliest documented kings referred to their city in their correspondence as "the city of Congo" (cidade do Congo), and the name of the city as São Salvador appears for the first time in the letters of Álvaro I of Kongo (1568–1587) and was carried on by his successors.
最初期の文書に記録された国王は彼等の街を書簡で「コンゴ市」(cidade de Congo)と記述し、サン・サルヴァドール（São Salvador）の名はローマに司教の派遣を求めたアルヴァロ1世 (1568年 - 1587年) の書簡に初めて見受けられ、その名称は彼の後継者にも受け継がれた。