History of Europe

Why was London named London?

London got its name from Londinium, the Roman city that was founded on the site about AD 43. Before that, the Thames Estuary had been inhabited by a Celtic people called the Catuvellauni, and the area around the modern Tower of London was known as Camulodunum, sacred to the Celtic war god Camulus. The name Londinium may be derived from the Celtic Londina, meaning “wild water,” or from the Celtic Lindon, meaning “lake fort,” referring to the original city’s settlement on a series of islands in the marshes of the River Tyburn. There is also a possibility that the name might be derived from a Celtic personal name, Londonos.