Hampton (place name)

The place name Hampton is of Old English origin and is common in England, particularly in the South of England and Central England. It can exist as a name in its own right or as a prefix or suffix. The name suggests a farm settlement, especially one where pastoral farmers keep livestock on flood-meadow pastures.

The name was exported around the world both as a place-name and as a surname, especially to those countries where the English language is an official language. Examples of place-names include:

• Hampton – Australia
• Hampton – Canada
• Hampton – United States

Etymology

The English toponymist P. H. Reaney has suggested that the name element Hampton may derive from:

1. Old English hām + tūn – "village with a home farm".[a][b][c]
2. Old English hamm + tūn – "village with a flood-meadow or pasture".[d][e][f]

The English toponymist Victor Watts has suggested the following possibilities:

1. Old English hēah + tūn – "high settlement"[3][g]
2. Old English hamm + tūn:[3]
   1. "settlement or estate in a river bend".
   2. "settlement or estate between rivers".
3. Old English hām + tūn – "home farm".[3]

Examples (home farm)

Examples of Old English hām and tūn – "village with a home farm":

Place name	Location	OS Grid	Historic landowner	Home farm	Listed	River name
Hampton Gay	Oxfordshire	SP4816	Robert de Gay	Manor Farm	Grade II[4]	River Cherwell[h]
Hampton Poyle	Oxfordshire	SP5015	Walter de la Poyle[i]	Manor Farm[j][k]		River Cherwell[l]
Hampton Lovett	Worcestershire	SO8865	Lovet family[m]	Hampton Farm[n]	Grade II[5]	Elmbridge Brook

Examples (meadow)

Examples of Old English hamm and tūn – "village with a flood-meadow or pasture":

Place name	Location	OS Grid	Derivation
Hampton	Richmond upon Thames	TQ1370	River Thames[o][p]
Hampton Lucy	Warwickshire	SP2557	River Avon[q][r]

Examples (high settlement)

Examples of Old English hēah and tūn – "high settlement":

Place name	Location	OS Grid	Derivation	River name
Hampton	Evesham, Worcestershire	SP0243	High ground[s]	River Isbourne – River Avon[t]
Hampton in Arden	Solihull, West Midlands	SP2081	High ground[u]	River Blythe[v]

Examples in England

Hampton

• Hampton, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire
• Hampton, Cheshire
• Hampton, Herne Bay, Kent
• Hampton, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
• Hampton-on-the-Hill, Warwickshire
• Hampton in Arden, Solihull, West Midlands
• Hampton, Worcestershire

Hampton (prefix)

Examples of Hampton followed by a name, usually of a landowner:

• Hampton Gay, Oxfordshire
• Hampton Poyle, Oxfordshire
• Hampton Loade, Shropshire
• Hampton Lucy, Warwickshire
• Hampton Lovett, Worcestershire

Hampton (suffix)

• Bothenhampton, Dorset
• Littlehampton, West Sussex
• Northampton, Northamptonshire
• Southampton, Hampshire
• Sevenhampton, Gloucestershire
• Sevenhampton, Wiltshire
• Wolverhampton, West Midlands

See also

• All pages with titles beginning with Hampton

References

1. Reaney 1969, p. 39.
2. Clark Hall 1916, p. 315.
3. Watts 2007, pp. 275.
4. Historic England. "MANOR FARMHOUSE (Hampton Gay) (1220147)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
5. Historic England. "HAMPTON FARMHOUSE (1288148)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 3 August 2023.

Notes

1. Chapter Two PLACE-NAME STUDY (P H Reaney). . .Examples of Hampton from Old English hām and tūn – "village with a home farm":
   • Hampton, Oxfordshire
   • Hampton, Gloucestershire
   • Hampton Lovett, Worcestershire. . .[1]
2. WiKtionary : Old English < hām >
   1. " home ".
   2. " property, estate, farm ".
   3. " village; community ".
3. WiKtionary : Old English < tun >
   1. " an enclosed piece of ground "
   2. " a village or town "
4. Chapter Two PLACE-NAME STUDY (P H Reaney). . .Examples of Hampton from Old English hamm and tūn:
   • Hampton, London, Middlesex
   • Hampton, Herefordshire
   • Hampton Lucy, Warwickshire. . .[1]
5. WiKtionary: Old English < hamm >
   1. " enclosure, piece of enclosed land (especially land enclosed by a river) ".
6. Dictionary – Old English ( Clark Hall ) < hamm >
   1. " piece of pasture land "
   2. " enclosure "
   3. " dwelling ".[2]
7. The settlement may be on high ground beside a flood meadow.
8. Manor Farm is beside a flood-meadow of the River Cherwell.
9. English Place-Names (Victor Watts)
   < Hampton Poyle > ( hām + tūn )
   . . .“held by the Poyle family. . .[3]
10. Manor Farm is at the end of Church lane west of the church.
11. See Hampton Poyle > social history > . . .parish church and Manor Farm.
12. Manor Farm is beside a flood-meadow of the River Cherwell.
13. English Place-Names (Victor Watts)
    < Hampton Lovett > ( hām + tūn )
    . . .“belonging to the Lovet family. . .[3]
14. Hampton Farmhouse is on high ground north-east of the railway line.
15. English Place-Names (Victor Watts)
    < Hampton > ( hamm + tūn ) . . ."The reference is to a great bend of the River Thames . . .[3]
16. The derivation suggests that Hampton was originally a farm settlement where pastoral farmers kept livestock on the flood-meadow beside the River Thames.
17. English Place-Names (Victor Watts)
    < Hampton Lucy > ( hamm + tūn ). . ."held by the Lucy family. . .It lies in a large bend of the River Avon. . .[3]
18. The village is near an island created by a bifurcation of the River Avon.
19. English Place-Names (Victor Watts)
    < Hampton > ( hēah + tūn ) . . . "The village occupies raised ground between Merry Brook and the River Isbourne. . .[3]
20. The settlement is near the confluence of the rivers Isbourne and Avon.
21. English Place-Names (Victor Watts)
    < Hampton in Arden > ( hēah + tūn ) "The village occupies a plateau of high ground"[3]
22. The settlement is near an island created by a bifurcation of the River Blythe.

Sources

• Clark Hall, John Richard (1916). A Concise Anglo−Saxon Dictionary, Second Edition. The Macmillan Company.
• Reaney, P H (1969). The Origin of English Place Names. Routledge & Kegan Paul.
• Stone, Jean (2014). River Cherwell. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4456-3443-2.
• Watts, Victor (2007). The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-16855-7.