Acton Lake is named in honour of Pilot Officer George Nelson Acton. The lake was dedicated on May 3, 1951 by the Government of Saskatchewan.

George Nelson Acton was born in Thessalon, Ontario, 90km east of Sault Ste. Marie, in March 1912. He moved to Saskatchewan with his parents in 1917 and took up farming in the Dorintosh area in 1933. He farmed and trapped until he enlisted in June 1942. Assigned as an air gunner to 408 (Goose) Squadron RCAF, Pilot Officer George Nelson Acton was killed in action on June 26, 1943 over Gelsenkirchen, Germany, and is buried at Reichswald Forest War Cemetery near Kleve.