The townsite of Trayning is located in the central agricultural region, 236 km east north east of Perth and 44 km east of Wyalkatchem. When the Dowerin to Merredin railway was planned in 1910 Trayning was selected as the site for a siding. Land was set aside for a townsite to be named Trayning Siding in 1910, but when it was surveyed and gazetted in 1912 it was named Trayning. The townsite is named after Trayning Well, the Aboriginal name of a nearby water source located on an old road from Goomalling to the eastern goldfields. It was first recorded by a surveyor in 1892.