river were recorded in 1619 as Sutton Watter, Sutton Brooke, and Lawton Brooke.

Early recorded variations of the name Wheelock have included Quelok, Qwelok, Whelok, Whelocke, with later forms using Wheelock Watter and Wheelock Brooke. The name is said to mean "winding river" and it is reported to have based on the Old Welsh word chwylog, the chwyl part of which means "a turn, a rotation, a course", with an adjective suffix of og. The river has given its name to the large village of Wheelock.