Origin of the Name "Channel Islands"

The Channel Islands (Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, Herm, etc.) are named for the body of water they sit in: the English Channel (French: La Manche).

Specifically: The "Saint-Malo Channel" Connection

• The islands lie in the Gulf of Saint-Malo (or Bay of Mont Saint-Michel), the deep indentation of the Channel between the Cotentin Peninsula (Normandy) and Brittany.
• Historically, the sea route through this gulf was called the "Canal de Saint-Malo" (Saint-Malo Channel) — the primary shipping lane between the open Channel and the port of Saint-Malo (Brittany), a major corsair and trading hub.
• Because the islands sit in this specific channel, they became known as the Îles de la Manche (Islands of the Channel) in French, and Channel Islands in English.

Not Named After:

• Any individual island.
• The city of Saint-Malo directly (though the channel is).
• The English Channel as a whole (they're in a specific part of it).

Geographically, they are the last remnants of the Duchy of Normandy still under the British Crown (as Crown Dependencies), lying just 12–30 miles off the French coast.