The river, one of 93 rivers and channels in Saint Petersburg, was once named Anonymous Creek (in Russian, Bezymyannyi Yerik, Безымянный ерик). In Russian, yerik is a secondary or intermittent river-channel (creek or brook). In 1719 the river received its present name, because water from it supplied the fountains of the Summer Garden.
Until the mid-18th century the Fontanka River marked the southern boundary of Saint Petersburg. Along its banks stood the spacious messuages of members of the Russian Imperial Family and of the nobility, the most brilliant being the Summer Palace and the Anichkov Palace. In 1780–89, architect Andrey Kvasov supervised the construction of the granite embankments and approaches to the river. The river-bed was regularised as well.