An island in Canada is dropping the name Black Charlie amid concerns that the name may be racist in origin, said Brockville Mayor Jason Baker.

The island is labelled on most navigational charts as Sheaffe Island, but it picked up the nickname Black Charlie over the years.

"All of our islands that are city-owned are named after prominent War of 1812 figures," Baker said in the update. "For some reason — and nobody knows why — the island just picked up this nickname over the years."

Sheaffe Island also known locally as Black Charlie.

Baker says that the issue was recently brought to their attention by a resident in the area who was concerned by the nickname.

"We were contacted by a prominent area resident who just asked us a couple questions about Black Charlie Island and whether it was appropriately named," he said.

Brockville councillors were unable to find the genesis of the nickname in any historical records, but they ultimately voted to scrap the name Black Charlie since it has the potential to be racially insensitive.

The council will remove three signs on the landmass that refer to it as Black Charlie Island.