Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Maideheg' 1202 P

• Maydehuth', Maydeheth' 1241 Ass

• Maidenhee 1202 P

• Maydenhus 1241 Ass

• Maydenhith' 1262 Cl

• Maydenhach 1286 ib

• Maydeneth 1297 Pat

• Madenhethe 1384 Fine

• Maydenhith 1402 ib

• Maidenheth 1404 ib

• Maidenheued, antiq. nom. South Ailington 1542 Leland

Etymology

'Landing-place of the maidens', v. mægden , hȳð . The spellings show the alternation of maiden with the shortened form maid which is found in some other p.ns., such as Maidford Nth 41, Medbury BdHu 71. The precise meaning of mægden in p.ns. is always difficult to determine. In this instance the reference is not likely to be to ownership, which would be appropriate in the case of Maidencourt Pt 2. It could be either to the convenient nature of the landing-place on the Thames, or to its being a place where girls were in the habit of assembling. The figurative uses of the adj. maiden are first recorded in the 16th cent., otherwise 'made or used for the first time' might be relevant. The use of maiden in Maiden Castle (Cu 256–7) does not seem appropriate. There has been association with the word maidenhead .

The name of the landing-place on the river replaced the earlier name of the settlement, which was Elintone ; v. infra . VCH 11, 36, quotes a letter of 1325 in which the Bishop of Salisbury refers to a chapel 'in villa de Southelyngton quae Maydenhath vulgariter appellatur'.

Maidenhead was made a distinct civil parish in 1894 (Kelly 117).Before that, it was in the parishes of Bray and Cookham.