'Holloway' may mean the hollow way, or the hallowed way: nobody is sure.
One theory is that cattle driven along this main route from the north to Smithfield, together with water, wore a dip into the road. Another links the name to 'hallow', as the road was part of the pilgrimage route to Walsingham. No documentary evidence supports either. By 1307 the name Holwey was applied to the district around the road.