Survey of English Place-Names

Etymology

Spook Hill (6″). Cf. Spokelande 1559Norfolk . It is impossible to say anything certain about the first element in this name. The history of the word spook , 'ghost,' is quite uncertain (NED s. v .).It is first on record from America, but may well have been in use in England at an earlier date. If this name contains it, the history of spook is carried back some 250 years. It may, however, be that the first element is spoke , meaning 'pole' and the like, with later alteration to the more picturesque spook .