'Wanstead' means a place or settlement, but nobody is sure what kind.
It was first recorded as Wenstede in a charter of 1065, on the eve of the Norman invasion. The second part comes from Old English stede, a place or settlement. The English Place-Name Society takes the first part as waenn, a hill or mound; others read it as wain, a wagon. The Victoria County History notes that the hilly ground favours 'hill place'.