'Brockley' may mean a woodland clearing where badgers are seen, or Broca's clearing.
Old English broc means badger; another reading is a brook by a wood. Brockley began as a small farming hamlet around today's Brockley Jack pub. Now the station, opened in 1871, defines the district: areas north and west of it once counted as Hatcham, New Cross or St Johns are considered Brockley.