According to the University of Nottingham English Place-names project, the settlement name Wilsthorpe could mean 'Willow-tree wood clearing'; salh (Anglian) A willow-tree or a sallow, pers.n.

The former parish of Wilsthorpe was situated on a roughly north-south axis between the villages of Breaston and Long Eaton, and it covered an area of around 500-600 acres (2.4 km2).

[1][3] The northern end reaches the outskirts of Risley village, the southern extent is somewhere along the point of Derwent Street.

Comparing the original Wilsthorpe parish boundary (sourced from the 'OS Derbyshire Sheet LVI.NW' Published: 1884)[4] with the modern OS Open Map Data of the same area, 60% of the former parish is now considered to be classed as urban (built up infrastructure); 17% as green open space (such as parks and allotments, etc.)

[1] The John Marius Wilson "Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72)" states that at the time of publishing, the parish of Wilsthorpe had a population of 56[7] and the Kelly's Directory of Derbyshire of 1899 lists the Earl of Harrington as lord of the manor, and principal landowner.

[3][9] Looking north from the Breaston motorway bridge, all the fields between the houses of Breaston and the motorway are what remain of the former rural parish of Wilsthorpe, and it is understood that Bostock Lane's 'Lodge Farm', that once farmed many of these fields, is the only building left that was built before Wilsthorpe parish merged with Sawley in 1866.