The story behind the name: Sculptor is one of the modern constellations in the Southern Hemisphere named by Abbe Nicholas Louis de Lacaille. He is credited for creating and naming 15 of the 88 internationally accepted constellations during his stay at the observatory at the Cape of Good Hope between 1750 and 1754.

Sculptor which takes up a large but obscure region of the sky, was originally named L' Atelier du Sculpteur (the Sculptor's Workshop), but like many other of Lacaille's constellations, the name was shortened and became the Sculptor. Lacaille also named the constellation Caelum, the Burin, an instrument used for engraving metal, which may be part of the Sculptor's equipment.

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