The village name 'Stoke' is Anglo Saxon in origin, and means 'hamlet'. It is one of the commonest place names in England (see Stoke (disambiguation)). In the Domesday Book of 1086 the village was recorded as Stoche. The affix 'Goldington' came later and refers to Peter of Goldington (from Goldington in Bedfordshire) who was the principal tenant in the village in the medieval period.