Good Herb Island....as far as the best translation Ive been able to find goes.
is there any wonder that there’d be a Good Herb Island in San Francisco Bay?
Actually, the Spanish translates to "mint," of which the most likely species is Satureja douglasii, which goes by the common name "yerba buena." It is a widely distributed groundcover and smells absolutely wonderful when you walk on it.
Originally, San Francisco was named Yerba Buena, formally named in 1835 (by an Englishman) after the Yerba Buena pueblo founded in 1776 by the Spanish. And it does mean "good herb", at least that was the intended meaning by the founders. I toured the insides of what remains of the pueblo in the early 1960's, and saw the graves going back to the early days after 1776. My history teacher then, said the pueblo was formally created on July 4th, 1776 - same day as some other event going on elsewhere.