Named after Stamford Brook, a lost stream between Hammersmith and Chiswick.
The name may be a corruption of 'stony ford', for a crossing by King Street. The brook gave its name to the surrounding area and to the station. Its westernmost course marked the boundary of the County of London created in 1889, and by 1900 all six strands had been covered over, their hollows used for the neighbourhood's sewers.