Claxton
Major Settlement in the Parish of Bossall
Historical Forms
- Claxtorp 1086 DB
- Claxton(a) 1282 YI
- Clauston 1295 For
Etymology
The first element is probably the OEScand name Klak , recorded in Swedish runes as KlakR and as the ODan personal name Klak (Nielsen), gen. Klaks . The one example of the name recorded by Lind in West Scandinavia is a Klakkr , reconstructed from Reider Klagsson , but this man is said to have come from Bohuslän, which then bordered on and is now part of Sweden. This would suggest that the name Klak (commonly found in the Danelaw) is a definite test of East Scandinavian settlement. The form Clacc is found in clacces wadlond (BCS 216) in the bounds of an Oxfordshire charter dated 774. These bounds are certainly not original and probably belong to the 11th cent. by which date an Anglo-Scand personal name might well be found in Oxfordshire.