The most probable meaning of the place name is the Uru (Village) of Maravars; a tribe lived in this area during the turn of Christian Era, who used to attack travelers for looting, hiding in the forest. The word meaning is 'people who hide'. They were traditionally members of the army of tribal chiefs and the Maharajas of Chera, Chola and Pandya. The name Marayur is also said to be derived from two words “mara” and “ur”, in Malayalam and Tamil languages. “mara” means hidden and “ur” means land. Another argument is that the name Marayur is derived from the words “mala” and “ur”, “mala” means mountain and “ur” means land, hence it was meant to be “the land of the mountains”, as the land is surrounded by mountains. Some scholars toyed with the idea that it can be both “mara” and “mala” as the name Marayur could be interpreted as the land hidden by the mountains.[citation needed] Legend has it the great Pandavas of Mahabharata epic, had stayed in the area during their exile and so the place was named as ‘Maranjirunna ur’ or the land (they) hide. Later it became the land’s name “Marayur.” There is no reason to give any credit to the story regarding Pandavas. Mara means cover and Mala means mountain. As such the argument of equivalence of mara and mala is out of question.

Marayur claims to be a part of a Stone Age civilization that is as old as 10,000 B.C. Its is also home to a later period of large-scale dolmen-building. The land and its unique dolmens, caves, rock edicts and engravings declare its rich heritage. People migrated from Tamil Nadu to this area when the Madurai king Thirumalainaicker was defeated by Tippu Sultan, in the eighteenth century CE. Migrated people created five villages which are Kanthalloor, Keezhanthur, Karayur, Marayur and Kottakudi. These villages were called as ‘Anju nadu, literally meaning “five lands”. However these place names are very old and aboriginal tribes still live in these villages, with their unique customs.