Named after Chancery Lane, itself named after the High Court of Chancery.
The Knights Templar laid it out as a 'new lane' before 1161; it was first called New Street. In the 14th century it became Chancellors Lane, when the House of the Converts, a home for converted Jews, went to the Keeper of the Rolls of Chancery, a court of equity. In 1934 the station became Chancery Lane (Gray's Inn), a suffix later dropped.