 The bridge is believed to have been named after the village of Marmalong or Marmalan identified with Mambalam.The village was, then, a "zamindari" administered by "zamindar"s belonging to a Telugu-speaking Reddi family.Urbanisation of Mambalam was started in 1911 with the construction of the Mambalam railway station on the Madras-Kanchipuram railroad.