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Barking was historically a fishing and agrarian settlement in the county of Essex and formed an ancient parish. Its economic history is characterised by a shift to market gardening, and industrial development to the south adjacent to the River Thames.

The railway station opened in 1854 and has been served by the London Underground since 1908.

As part of the suburban growth of London in the 20th century, Barking significantly expanded and increased in population, primarily due to the development of the London County Council estate at Becontree in the 1920s, and it became a municipal borough in 1931, and part of Greater London in 1965. In addition to an extensive and fairly low-density residential area, the town centre forms a large retail and commercial district, currently a focus for regeneration. The former industrial lands to the south are being redeveloped as Barking Riverside.

Its name came from Anglo-Saxon Berecingas, meaning either "the settlement of the followers or descendants of a man called Bereca" or "the settlement by the birch trees". In AD 735 the town was Berecingum and was known to mean "dwellers among the birch trees". By AD 1086, it had become Berchingae as evidenced by the town's entry in the Domesday Book.

In British slang "Barking" is short for "barking mad", and Barking is sometimes cited as the origin of the phrase, attributed to the alleged existence of a medieval insane asylum attached to Barking Abbey. However, the phrase first appeared in the 20th century. A more likely derivation is from comparing an insane person to a mad dog.