The name "Karrinyup" was derived from the name of a local swamp called "Careniup", an Aboriginal word apparently meaning 'the place where bush kangaroos graze'. It was modified to its present form by the Lake Karrinyup Country Club in 1929.
Land at Karrinyup was first granted to Samuel Moore in the early 1840s. The property passed through many hands in the 19th Century until being acquired by W. Maley in 1909. Charles Stoneman subdivided another grant in the Karrinyup area into sixth-of-an acre lots in 1904. Many of these blocks were sold over the next ten years, however no roads were built and few houses constructed.
Development of a golf course began in the late 1920s on land previously owned by Maley. For many years, the Lake Karrinyup Country Club was the only significant development in the area.