According to Singapore Street Names1, Dunlop Street was formerly known as Rangasamy Road before 1870. It is not sure whether the road was renamed after Colonel Samuel Dunlop, the Inspector General of Police in the Straits Settlements; or A.E. Dunlop, an active member of the Race Course Committee. If it were the former, then it was named after the same person as Dunlop Road in Penang.