Initially a hamlet in the parish of Chesham, the village gets its name from the de Bosco family who owned the manor of Chesham in the reign of King John. The French version of the family name was 'de Bois'. Later, in the reign of Henry VII, the manor came into the possession of the Cheynes of Chenies, after which it passed with the rest of the Cheyne estates to the Earl of Bedford.
Today Chesham Bois is indistinguishable from parts of Amersham, particularly the new side of Amersham-on-the-Hill. It still remains a particularly splendid part of the Chiltern Hills.