The municipality of Volden was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The original municipality was the same as the parish (prestegjeld) of Volden, including the sub-parishes of �rsta and Dalsfjord. On 1 August 1883, the sub-parish of �rsta was separated from Volden to form a new municipality of its own. This left Volden with 3,485 residents. On 1 January 1893, the Ytrest�len farm in �rsta (population: 13) was transferred to Volden.
In 1918, the name was changed from Volden to Volda. On 1 July 1924, the sub-parish of Dalsfjord was separated from Volda to become a municipality of its own. This left Volda with 4,715 residents. On 1 January 1964, the municipalities of Dalsfjord and Volda were merged back together. The new Volda municipality had 7,207 residents.
Name
The municipality is named after the Voldsfjorden (Old Norse: V?ld). The name is probably derived from an old word meaning "wave". (Compare with the German: Welle which means "wave".) Before 1918, the name was written Volden.
Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 19 June 1987. The arms show a tip of a fountain pen as a symbol for the long history of education in volda.
Churches
The Church of Norway has four parishes within the municipality of Volda. It is part of the Diocese of M�re and the Rural Deanery (Prosti) of S�re Sunnm�re
