The origin of the place-name is from the Old English words north, bere and tun (meaning northern grange or outlying farm).

In 1840 a separate Norbiton parish was created, with St Peter's Church built between 1840 and 1842 to a design of Gilbert Scott and William Moffatt.

[7] One of the family's servants was Cesar Picton, originally an African slave, he was brought to England aged six in 1761.

In 2020 plans were agreed to regenerate the Cambridge Road estate, including demolishing 865 existing homes and building 2,170 new ones.

[12] Homes on the renewed estate will obtain heating by a process that turns treated sewage into clean energy, the first such scheme in England.

[13] As Norbiton is only 25 minutes by train from Waterloo station, the suburban population includes a large concentration of London commuters.

Norbiton railway station was used as a location for the British sitcom The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin.