Paralia Platanou (i.e. "Platanos Beach", Παραλία Πλατάνου in Greek), lies on the seashore exactly below Platanos village, yet with time the plain name 'Platanos' (without the geographical term 'Paralia') has been attributed more to the village on the beach rather than to the original village above which is for a long time now commonly referred to as 'Pano' or 'Ano' (for Upper) Platanos.
The first settlers of the town came from Aegean shores and named the town "Platana" because of the abundance of plane trees (Greek Plàtanos, Πλάτανος, Latin Platanus).
The municipal unit Kissamos includes the Gramvousa peninsula (Chernisos Gramvousas Χερσόνησος Γραμβούσας) in the northwest and the adjacent Gramvousa islets, as well as the islet of Pontikonisi, and the villages of Sfinari, Koukounaras, Polirinia, Platanos, Lousakia, Sirikari, Kallergiania and Kalathena.
The welterweight boxing champion of the world, "Pipino" Cuevas was born in Santo Tomás de los Plátanos on December 27, 1957.