The original Paiwan name for the area was
Tjakuvukuvulj (Tjakuvukuvuɬ; historically rendered as
Chaobo Obol or in ). Han Chinese settlers noted a rock outcropping in the shape of a lion's head () and called the village
Sai-a-thau-sia (). Under
Kuomintang rule, the name was changed to the current
Shizi, though in Taiwanese Hokkien the name
Sai-a-thau is still normally used in spoken contexts. ==Geography==