Mount Vinson is named after Carl G. Vinson, a Georgia congressman and Democrat (18831981).
From 1935 to 1961 Carl Vinson was a major force in promoting US Antarctic exploration and a key supporter of funding Antarctic research. A legend in his own lifetime, he was the first person to serve for more than 50 years in the US House of Representatives. The Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia continues as a living legacy to his memory.
The Ellsworth Mountains, from which Mount Vinson rises, were named after their discoverer Lincoln Ellsworth a US explorer who made a number of flights across Antarctica between 1934 and 1939.