'Willesden' means the hill of the spring.
It was recorded in 939 as Willesdune, or Wellesdune; the hill may have been the Brondesbury ridge, and the site of the spring is now lost. Willesden Green was the largest of the parish's hamlets, a group of houses around a spacious green. Old maps spell it Wilsdon: the spelling Willesden was adopted by the railway in 1844. From 1894 to 1938 the station was Willesden Green and Cricklewood.