It is Old English and means 'wood belonging to a religious community', referring to the ownership of Hainault Forest by Barking Abbey.

The spelling was altered from the 17th century to its modern form owing to an imagined but false connection to Philippa of Hainault, the wife of Edward III.

[4] Urban development began after August 1856, when the Great Eastern Railway built a line between Stratford and Loughton.

The development of 2,779 houses was in the style known as a 'cottage estate' with the names of the roads relating to the history of Hainault Forest.

During the passage of the London Government Act 1963, Chigwell became excluded from the new administrative area, which would have led to the estate being split by a county boundary.

For postal addresses, it is split between the Chigwell and Ilford post towns in the IG postcode area.

The largest ethnic group in the Hainault ward of Redbridge in the 2011 census was White British, at 60.7% of the population.

Hainault Athletic Football Club play in the Essex Sunday Combination League and have two teams of players.