Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Hunsterton 1188–1209 MidCh 1241 MRA 1724 NotCestr

• Honsterton' 1272–90 ChFor 1316 Chamb 1326 Pat 1460 AddCh

• Hunsterston 1188–1209 Tab 1294 ChF 1307 ChRR

• Hunsturston 1380 ChCal

• Humsturston 1503 Plea

• Hunstristun 1241 MRA

• Honstreston 1307 ChRR

• Huntirtun H3 AddCh

• Hunteston 1241 MRA

• Hunstraton' 1280 P

• Hunstreton 1346 ChGaol 1352 BPR

• Hon(e)stretton(e) c.1311 AddCh

• Hunsterson 1319,1321 AddCh 1719 Sheaf

• Hunstrinton 1328 AddCh

• Honstrerton 1348 ChFor

• Hunston 1653 Sheaf

• Hunterson 1831 Bry

Etymology

The final el. is tūn 'an enclosure, a farmstead'. The first el. is difficult. Ekwall (DEPN) suggests the name may be Stretton (from strǣt and tūn ) with a prefixed pers.n., OE  Hūn , or alternatively, analogous with Houndstreet So, from steort 'a tail' and either an OE  pers.n. Hund , or hund 'a dog, a hound', with tūn . Dr Barnes proposes 'farm at a tail of land, belonging to Hunna', from the OE  pers.n. Hun (n )a and a p.n. from steort and tūn . There may be historical grounds for strǣt -tūn (cf. Pepperstreet Moss infra ) but the topography supports steort , for Hunsterson is on a low spur of land.Professor Löfvenberg proposes that the first el. is either hund 'a dog' or hūne 'horehound', and the second is steort 'a tail', and that the p.n. means either 'farmstead on the dog's tail (owing to a fancied likeness of a piece of land to such a thing)', or more likely 'farmstead on the tail of land overgrown with horehound'.