Prior to the sinking of the Looe, this area was called by the Spanish "La Pareda". Loup on DeBrahm chart (1772) Key Loo on Romans chart (1774) The log of the U.S. Revenue Cutter Marion (1832) states: "At 10am hove to off Looe Key & sent the boat to examine the beacon which was found to be in very bad order. " Looe Kay on Blunt chart (1846), which also shows "Beacon" here. Looey Key on a 1920 map from Charles Torrey Simpson's book, "In Lower Florida Wilds".

Looe Key no longer shows above water, having been eroded over the years. Named for the British warship H.M.S. Looe, which sunk here in 1744.