'Epping' comes from Old English yppeingas, the people of the raised place.
The Domesday Book of 1086 records it, spelled Eppinges or Epinga depending on the source. That first Epping is today’s Epping Upland; the town grew from Epping Heath, later Epping Street, a settlement that had developed by the mid-12th century on land cleared from the forest. The forest is named after the town: 'Epping Forest' is first recorded in the 17th century.