It used to be known as Mollinburn and the stream known as Mollins Burn joins the Luggie Water east of the village.

[1] Mollinsburn is south of the Luggie and the M80 and M73 motorways are between the river and the village - the roads converge at that point, resulting in the Mollinsburn name being used frequently in regional traffic reports.

There is a Roman fort at Mollins, 4 kilometers south of the Antonine Wall, which was discovered by aerial photography in 1977.

The etymology of the name is a semi-translation of ‘Allt a' Mhuilinn’, meaning "burn of the mill".

[3] Mollinsburn had once been a quaint fishing village until its inhabitants decided to move further in land to work on the building of the Antonine Wall to the north of the settlement.