'Ealing' means the people of a Saxon called Gilla.
The name comes from the Gillingas, a Saxon tribe named in a charter of Æthelred of Mercia around 700; the tribe took its name from a patriarch or chief called Gilla. The place-name appears as Yllinges around 1170 and as Elyng in 1553. Despite its name, North Ealing station lies to the east of Ealing Broadway.