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.

Colleton Barton

Early-attested site in the Parish of Chulmleigh

Historical Forms

  • Coleton(e) 1242 Fees761 1285 FA
  • Colaton 1443 FF

Etymology

It was held by one Roger Cole in 1242. This may be only a coincidence or it may be that the name Cole was common here as a second name a good deal earlier than 1242. On the whole evidence tends to show that second names became hereditary rather earlier than has commonly been supposed.