Huntingdon
Major Settlement in the Parish of Huntingdon
Historical Forms
- Huntandun 973 Thorney c.1300–25 ASC 921 Cragg c.950 c.1000
- Huntadun c.1000 Cragg
- Huntedun 1086 DB
- Huntedon 1199 FF 1230 Cl
- Huntendonia, id est Moris venatorum 12th HH
- Huntendon 1212 FF
- Huntindon 1225 Pat 1227 Ch 1259 FF
- Huntyngdon 1286 Ass
Etymology
The OE huntan -dūn can at once be translated 'hunter's hill,' but such a derivation though possible is not on the whole very probable. In Huntingford (Wo), where association with hunting is certain, the original name was huntena ford , 'ford of the hunters,' in the plural. It is more likely that the well-recorded OE pers. name Hunta , which survived into the 12th cent., is contained here. It seems also to occur in Huntham (Sa) and Huntington (Y). This pers. name may have meant 'hunter,' or equally well may be a short form with a t - suffix of one of the numerous pers. names beginning or ending with Hūn .The latter is made probable by the existence of a mutated form *Hyntel , *Hyntil , preserved in Hintlesham (Sf). The dun in Huntingdon must be the stretch of rising ground between the Ouse and the valley in which King's and Abbot's Ripton lie.