'baygall' originates from American English, specifically a compound of the words 'bay' (referring to bay trees or shrubs) and 'gall' (likely from 'gallberry' or a regional use meaning a shrubby wet area).

'baygall' developed regionally in the southeastern United States in the 19th century as a local compound term describing swamps dominated by bay trees and gallberry; it did not pass through a long foreign-language evolution but arose from descriptive local English usage.

Initially, it referred specifically to small, shrub- and bay-dominated wet depressions or drainage swamps; over time the term has been used both for those small wetland pockets and more broadly for similar acidic bay-dominated swamps.