Named after King Harold, who held the estate here before 1066.
Harold Godwinson held the surrounding manor of Havering-atte-Bower, though there is no evidence that he ever visited. Harold's Wood was a large forest, recorded as Horalds Wood in about 1237; after its trees were cut down in the 15th and 16th centuries the land became Harold's Wood Common. The district round the 1868 station took its name from the station.