The RCMP has undergone two name changes since its inception:
1873–1904
The North-West Mounted Police was founded in 1873. Since the original mandate of the force was to police the North-West Territories, its name reflected the regional scope of its authority.
1904–1919
In 1904, the status “Royal” was conferred on the NWMP by King Edward VII in recognition of the military contributions made by members of the police force to the Empire during the Anglo-South African War (1899–1902).
1919–present
The present name of the force, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, came with the amalgamation of the RNWMP and the Dominion Police. Prior to 1919, the country was divided into two parts and policed by two separate police forces. The RNWMP’s jurisdiction covered all of the territory west of what is now known as Thunder Bay, Ontario. The Dominion Police, a small federal police force formed in 1868 to perform protective duties in Ottawa and investigate federal offences, were responsible for policing all of eastern Canada. In November 1919, in the wake of the Winnipeg general strike and on the advice of RNWMP Commr. A.B. Perry, both police forces were amalgamated by an act of Parliament to form the RCMP, giving Canada a centralized police force responsible for federal law enforcement.