English Place-name Society

Survey of English Place-Names

A county-by-county guide to the linguistic origins of England’s place-names – a project of the English Place-Name Society, founded 1923.

Didcot

Major Settlement in the Parish of Didcot

Historical Forms

  • Dudecota 1206 Abbr, Cur
  • Duddecoy' 1208 OblR
  • Dudecote 1208 P 1535 VE
  • Doudecote 1235–6 Fees
  • Dodecote a.1237 PubLibDoc 1428 FA
  • Doddecote 1278 Cl 1314–15 AD
  • Dudcote 1390 Cl 1470 AD 1481 AD 1517 DInc
  • Didcot or Dudcot 1657 Wood

Etymology

'Dud(d)a's cottage(s)', v. cot(e). The change of -u - to -i -, which appears to date from c. 1650, has occurred in some other p.ns. containing Dud (d )a or Duddel (a ), cf. DEPN s.n. Diddington, Diddlebury, Didley; but it is not inevitable, as -u - survives in a number of names listed in DEPN p. 152.