The county and its county seat are both named for General Andrew Pickens, a hero of the American Revolution who also served as a state legislator and Congressman. The Pickens family arrived in the Carolina backcountry in the mid-18th century. He married Rebecca Calhoun in the 1760s and established himself as a trader in Bear Springs (Abbeville) along one of the Indian trading paths. He and his family survived the Cherokee War and were then caught up in the war for independence from Great Britain. After the war, he declared Abbeville too crowded, moved into the Pickens County area, and died there.