Ask any Argawanon, whether young or old, how the town got its name, and you get a story with various details in different degrees, but the gist is more or less the same. The typical story goes like this:

A fisherman from the outskirts of the town was preparing his fishing nets when suddenly he heard voices from behind. Turning, he saw three white men who were hurriedly approaching him; they later asked the fisherman for the name of the tree which they spotted in abundance near the shorelines.
To make sure of his answer, the fisherman went to pick a leaf for verification. Then he went back and in a clear tone told the inquirer that the tree was Sa-li-ar-gaw. Sa-li-ar-gao, repeated the first. Sa-li-ar-gao! Exclaimed the second and repeating the word, the third approvingly said in the tongue of Cervantes, “el pueblo de Argao.” And, taking his memorandum wrote the word “Argao”. Expressing their gratitude for his service, they congratulated him and with a gentle pat on his shoulder, they went their way. Some Argawanons tell the story differently. Some would say that legends have it that three foreigners came to Argao one day and asked the fisherman they spotted what the name of the town was. This tale insists that the people who came to the early settlement in what is now Argao were not necessarily Spaniards.