Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• (land) Under Curredun, Under curredone 1321 Winch

• 'arable in Corden' 1543 Hutch3

• Cordon 1811 OS

• Curden 1839 TA

Etymology

Cowdown Hill (SY 641999), (land ) Under Curredun , Under curredone 1321Winch , 'arable in Corden '1543 Hutch3, Cordon 1811 OS, Curden 1839TA , from dūn 'hill' with reference to the notable hill which rises to 739′ to the NE of the village, v. under . The first el. is doubtful, but a group of D p.ns. have somewhat similar early spellings and are perhaps to be compared: Curham PN D 549 (Curreham 1275, Corham 1330, Correham 1333), Curriton PN D 395 (Correton 1330), and Curworthy PN D 150 (Corneworthy 1086, Cureworthy 1219, 1238, 1242, 1378, Coreworthy 1316, Curreworthy 1492).For the first two of these PN D 396 (echoed by EPN 1120) tentatively suggests ME  curre 'dog' perhaps used as a nickname. For Curworthy, PN D 150 (supported by EPN 2 276) suggests OE  cweorn, cwyrn 'hand- mill' with loss of -n (cf. also Curborough St, Cur - 1280, which Ekwall DEPN derives from this el.). The el. cweorn is in fact frequently compounded with dūn (as in Currendon in Swanage par. 1 57, Coringdon in Corscombe par. infra , v. EPN 1 122 for other examples), so that Cowdown is possibly 'mill hill', 'hill where mill-stones were obtained'. Note that the rationalization to Cowdown is only recent; for a genuine 'cow hill', cf. Cowdon (Hill) in Charminster par. 1 341.