The village was once named Sweet Hollow by the early settlers because of the wild honey found in trees growing on the land.

The hamlet of Melville is known for its large financial institutions and corporate office buildings such as companies like Swissair, Arrow Electronics, Chyron and Newsday. In the early twentieth venter, many of the old farms were sold for development of industries and housing. The population was just under 20,000 at the 2020 census.