"Dunguru". Tradition holds that British colonialists came upon a Nupe man playing a Dunguru (a musical instrument used by the Nupe and Gwari) in the area of what is now Zungeru. They asked him what it was he called, he told them "Dunguru", and the corrupted form "Zungeru" became the name of the settlement.

British forces occupied Zungeru in September 1902, which was then populated by Nupe Tribe.