Wavertree is an area of Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

, in Merseyside

Merseyside

Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, and is a Liverpool City Council

Liverpool City Council

Liverpool City Council is the governing body for the city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. It consists of 90 councillors, three for each of the city's 30 wards. The council is currently controlled by the Labour Party and is led by Joe Anderson.-Domain:...

 ward. It is bordered by a number of districts to the south and east of Liverpool city centre

Liverpool City Centre

Liverpool city centre is the commercial, cultural, financial and historical heart of Liverpool, England.Unlike many other cities in the United Kingdom, a ring road doesn't distinguish the city centre from the remainder of Liverpool, although an inner ring road of sorts does exist, with the recent...

 from Toxteth

Toxteth

Toxteth is an inner city area of Liverpool, England. Located to the south of the city, Toxteth is bordered by Liverpool City Centre, Dingle, Edge Hill, Wavertree and Aigburth.-Description:...

, Edge Hill

Edge Hill, Liverpool

Edge Hill is a district of Liverpool, England. It is located to the south east of Liverpool city centre, bordered by the city centre, Kensington, Wavertree and Toxteth. Edge Hill University was founded here, but moved to Ormskirk in the 1930s.-History:...

, Fairfield

Fairfield, Liverpool

Fairfield is an area of Liverpool, in Merseyside, England, encompassing streets between Tuebrook and Kensington and stretching to Old Swan. It consists of a variety of houses; there are some traditional red-brick terraces, larger Victorian villas and also the notable and rather wonderful 300...

, Old Swan

Old Swan

Old Swan is an inner-city area of Liverpool, Merseyside, England and a Liverpool City Council Ward. It is located fairly centrally in the city, bordered by Stoneycroft, Broadgreen, Fairfield and Wavertree...

, Childwall

Childwall

Childwall is a suburb of Liverpool, Merseyside, England and a Liverpool City Council Ward. It is located to the south of the city, bordered by Gateacre, Wavertree, Belle Vale, Broadgreen, Bowring Park and Mossley Hill...

 and Mossley Hill

Mossley Hill

Mossley Hill is a district of Liverpool, Merseyside, England and a Liverpool City Council Ward. It is located to the south of the city, bordered by Aigburth, Wavertree, Childwall and Allerton. At the 2001 Census, the Mossley Hill ward had a population which was recorded at 12,650.-Notable...

.
The name derives from the Old English words wæfre and treow, meaning "wavering tree", possibly in reference to aspen

Aspen

Populus section Populus, of the Populus genus, includes the aspen trees and the white poplar Populus alba. The five typical aspens are all native to cold regions with cool summers, in the north of the Northern Hemisphere, extending south at high altitudes in the mountains. The White Poplar, by...

 trees common locally.
It has also been variously described as "a clearing in a wood" or "the place by the common pond".
In the past the name has been spelt Watry, Wartre, Waurtree, Wavertre and Wavertree.
The earliest settlement of Wavertree is attested to by the discovery of Bronze Age

Bronze Age

The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...

 burial urn

Urn

An urn is a vase, ordinarily covered, that usually has a narrowed neck above a footed pedestal. "Knife urns" placed on pedestals flanking a dining-room sideboard were an English innovation for high-style dining rooms of the late 1760s...

s in Victoria Park in the mid 1880s.
The Domesday Book

Domesday Book

Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

reference is "Leving held Wauretreu.