The Dolomites, also known as the Pale Mountains, take their name from the carbonate rock dolomite. This was named after the 18th-century French mineralogist Déodat Gratet de Dolomieu (1750–1801), who was the first to describe the mineral.

The original and still frequently used name for the Dolomites is "The Pale Mountains" (Monti Pallidi in Italian). Up until the late 18th century, the range did not have a unified formal name and was largely referred to by locals simply as the "Südtirol und Venetien" mountains. The name "Dolomites" was only introduced after the French geologist Déodat de Dolomieu first described the unique magnesium-rich limestone rock in 1789-1790. Initially, the mineral was proposed to be called "saussurite," but in 1796, it was officially named "dolomite" in honor of its discoverer. The transition of the name from the mineral to the entire region only occurred in the mid-19th century, popularized by British travelers and mountaineers Josiah Gilbert and George C. Churchill in their 1864 book, The Dolomite Mountains. Even then, the term "Dolomites" was not universally accepted until after World War I. Today, the "Pale Mountains" nickname remains a tribute to the rock's ethereal, light-reflecting quality, which causes the peaks to glow with a pink or orange hue at sunrise and sunset—a phenomenon known as the Enrosadira.