Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Flittogate 1831 Bry

• Fletow(e) c.1290 Chol l13 Tab

• Fletehowe 1308 ib

• fleton 1306,1330 ib

• Flyton 1338 ib

• the Flitton 1716 ib

Etymology

Flittogate, Flittogate 1831 Bry, Fletow (e )c.1290Chol (p), l13 Tab, Fletehowe 1308 ib, fleton 1306, 1330 ib, Flyton 1338 ib, the Flitton 1716 ib, v. geat 'a gate'. Some of the examples quoted as -ton (v. tūn ) may well be -tou , and the eighteenth-century form may represent a late cor- ruption. The earliest spellings indicate OE  flet 'a floor', or ON  flet 'a floor, a bench', and haugr or hōh 'a hill, a mound'. The p.n. could mean 'a mound with a flat-top, or with a bench, or shaped like a bench', but there may have been a more definite archæological or figurative significance (v. flet BT, Cleasby-Vigf) such as 'house'.