The name Hel(le) Voet, Helius' foot or "(land at) the lowest point of Helius", appears in documents from the 13th century and later, such as in 1395, when the Nieuw-Helvoet Polder is issued for inspection. This polder had a drainage sluice (Dutch: "sluis") in the southern dike: the Hellevoetse sluis.

The history of Hellevoetsluis has always been connected with water. During the time of the Eighty Year's War and the forming of the United Provinces Hellevoetsluis