The gardens bore different names in the past - first they were known as Elizabeth’s Park in honour of the famous Austrian Empress, Elisabeth Bavarian, known as Sissi. Later the park became also Millennium Park, Šrobár Park, Hlinkov Park and Sedlačkov Park. After reconstruction at the beginning of the 90s its name was changed into the present name - Sad SNP (short for Slovenské Národné povstanie, the Slovak National Uprising of 1944 to oust the Nazi-collaborating government).

At the southern end of the park facing Andrej Hlinka Square there is a memorial to Liberation of Žilina. The inscription date (30 April 1945) means the moment when Red Army soldiers, Czechoslovak soldiers and also Romanian units entered Žilina and liberated the city from Nazi-German occupying forces; the war in Europe ended nearly two weeks later.