The name ‘Pavin’ come from the local Occitan name ‘Lake Pavent’ – frightful lake – which itself comes from the Latin ‘pavens’, an adjectival participle of the verb ‘paveo’ which means “to be struck with terror. The darkness of its waters on a cloudy day is certainly not foreign to this description. Surrounded by mystery, Lake Pavin has been described as frightening since the 16th century and it is the setting for many legends.