Elvanfoot is located at the confluence of the River Clyde and Elvan Water.

Almost all attestations of the root occur with the Proto-Indo-European suffix -*awe- and "root-determinative -*n- or participial -*ant-", giving the proto-form *al-au-n-.

As Elvan Water passes through a mining area, Breeze suggests that there may be high levels of salt in the river.

Until 1965, it was served by Elvanfoot railway station on the West Coast Main Line.

The village is also served by the number 102 bus from Edinburgh to Dumfries, which operates once daily in each direction, There used to be two buses per day, but this was cut due to council funding being reduced.