根據《The Oxford Companion of Food and Drink》,千島醬的名稱推測起源於美國和加拿大間聖羅倫斯河上的千島群島[7],當地常耳聞的說法是,一位釣魚嚮導的妻子 Sophia LaLonde 做了千島醬當做丈夫 George 在岸邊吃晚餐的調味料[8]。一名加拿大女演員May Irwin(英語:May Irwin)嘗過千島醬之後,拿到了製作方法[9],接著把作法給了另一位居住在千島群島的暑期度假居民George Charles Boldt, Sr.(英語:George Boldt)。Boldt經營華道夫-阿斯多里亞酒店,並把千島醬列入菜單內[10]。1959年《國家地理雜誌》一篇報導中指出,千島醬據說是 Boldt 的主廚發明的。[11]
Weaver, Louise Bennett; LeCron, Helen Cowles (1917). A thousand ways to please your husband, with Bettina's best recipes, p. 89. New York: Britton Publishing Company
Breaded Veal Rounds and Thousand Island Dressing. In A Book of Famous Old New Orleans Recipes used in the South for more than 200 years, p. 21. Peerless Printing Company, New Orleans, 1900.
Stiles, Kaelyn; Altıok, Özlem; Bell, Michael M. (2010). The ghosts of taste: food and the cultural politics of authenticity. Agriculture and Human Values DOI: 10.1007/s10460-010-9265-y