Officially Pubal was not supposed to have any name as names are not given to wild animals, but the rangers who raised him and looked after him prior to his departure from the region started calling him "Pubal"; the letters "P" and "U" are reserved for the Białowieża-Caucasus race of the European bison species, while the ending "bal" comes from "Nadleśnictwo Baligród" or the Baligród Forestry.