'Leytonstone' means Leyton at the stone.
A hamlet called Leyton-atte-Stone is recorded from the 14th century, in the parish of Leyton, the settlement on the River Lea. The stone is the High Stone, traditionally described as a Roman milestone; a restored 18th-century obelisk on an older stump still stands where Hollybush Hill meets New Wanstead. Film director Alfred Hitchcock was born here in 1899.