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What is the meaning of the suffix, "don", in towns such as Wimbeldon, Huntingdon?

Bernard Kueny
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    There are plenty of articles giving such information, for instance this one by Tim Lambert, and, possibly better, this one by Wikipedia (which gives three possibilities, 'valley', 'fort' and 'hill'!) – Edwin Ashworth Aug 26 '16 at 18:20
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    @EdwinAshworth That page is not that easy to find, especially if you don't know special keywords around it. I think this kind of question is exactly the kind that would be perfect for ELU. – Mitch Aug 26 '16 at 20:41
  • @Mitch It's the lack of any sign of investigative effort that prompts my close-vote. By all means edit the question to add the information from eg Wikipedia and to ask about the different etymologies. – Edwin Ashworth Aug 26 '16 at 21:09

2 Answers2

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As Edwin has noted, there are references for even such obscure items as this. But that doesn't necessarily give every thing.

The study of place names is called 'toponymics' and every language has its own. People are just not that inventive, but the names we have inherited have gone through layers of minute changes till they have become unrecognizable.

Most of these suffixes (and prefixes) are geographical. The Celts and Germans had some very precise names for different kinds of features.

The suffix 'don' can come from what means either 'valley' (from OE), 'hill' or 'down' (from Celtic) or even 'fort' (as a prefix from Celtic). So depending on your particular town, look around and if you're in a lower area, it comes from one kind of name, but a low flat top grassy hill another, and a steep hill another. See the etymology of down and dune for more info.

Mitch
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In the two cases you mention it comes from the Old English 'dun' meaning 'hill'.

I note the locations you refer to are in England, so you might find this site hosted by the Institute of Name Studies at the University of Nottingham useful:

http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/

rhm
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