The village takes its name from the River Hamble; the Rice is the Old English hrīs meaning 'brushwood' or perhaps by extension 'scrubland', and of which the modern form is the word rushes.

[6] Known as St Andrew's Castle, investigations suggest that it consisted of a rectangular structure fronted by a gun platform with a semi-circular layout.

[7] Hamble-le-Rice was the home of a major flying school before and during the Second World War for aircraft including the Spitfire, the Lancaster and the Wellington.

The aviation industry retains a large interest in Hamble-le-Rice, with the Hamble Aerostructures factory, now a subsidiary of the Spanish company Aernnova, in Kings Avenue.

[9] The following units were here at some point:[10] Hamble-le-Rice is home to three main marinas offering marine services and goods to the boating industry.

In addition, large factories and smaller industrial units off Ensign Way and Hamble Lane are used by CooperVision, Qioptiq Photonics Ltd., BP, Hoyer, GE and others.

[13] A pipeline runs under Southampton Water from the Fawley oil refinery which supplies the BP fuel terminal at Hamble.

[14] Fuel is transported from this depot both day and night, in particular early mornings (between 3am and 6am), by 44 tonne road tankers along the B3397, as well as by pipeline to major industry and airports.

[15] and at its intersection with Portsmouth Road an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) exists to monitor nitrogen dioxide traffic pollutants.

[15] Daily traffic congestion and slow moving queues are due to the large number of inbound and outbound commuters, on staggered work shifts.

[17] It is also linked by a pedestrian ferry to Warsash, and has frequent bus services to Southampton - the '15' provided by Bluestar,[18] via Netley and Woolston.

The Royal Yachting Association, the sport's national governing body, has had its headquarters in the village since the early 2000s, when it moved from Eastleigh to a new purpose-built building.