Kununoppin is a townsite in the eastern agricultural region, 247 kilometres northeast of Perth. Like many wheatbelt towns, Kununoppin was established because it was the site of a railway siding. The Dowerin to Merredin railway opened in 1911, and the townsite was gazetted in 1911. Kununoppin derives its name from the Aboriginal name of a nearby area, first recorded as "Coonoonoppin" during surveys in 1908. The spelling Kununoppin was adopted to conform to the Royal Geographical Society orthography for recording Aboriginal place names adopted by the Lands Department.