Brent Cross takes its name from the nearby river that joins the Thames at Brentford and was recorded as Braegente in 959. In its turn the river-name is derived from the hypothetical Old English Brigantica, probably meaning the holy or high river and as the river flows mostly through low country the former is most likely. The name became Brent(e) by the 13th century.

The station was originally proposed to have been named WOODSTOCK, but it was opened as BRENT on 19 November 1923 and re-named BRENT CROSS on 20 July 1976.