The locality takes its name from the Nukku railway station name, assigned on 19 December 1912 by the
Queensland Railways Department. It is an Aboriginal word (
Waka language, Dungibara dialect, Koolaburra clan), meaning
watershed. Nukku was served by the
Nukku railway station (). The line closed in 1993. The station building was relocated to Millar Street in
Yarraman to be used as a workshop for a
saddlery business and, in 2015, relocated to
Blackbutt as a museum exhibit. Nukku State School opened on 28 May 1928. It closed in 1967. The school was located to the south of the
D'Aguilar Highway near the Nukka Road Road junction (approx ). The former school building was relocated to
Blackbutt to house the Roy Emerson Museum. On 1 February 2018, Nukku's postcode changed from 4306 to 4314. == Demographics ==