Washington: Origin of Place Name Washington

Meaning of Place Name: Washington

Washington: The name of two places in England, one in Durham the other in Sussex (Anglo-Saxon Hwessingatun and Wassingatun) which signifies the tun or "town'," of the Hwessings or Wassings. From the Durham village the ancestors of George Washington, the first President of the United States (1789-1797), are believed to have derived their territorial surname. In his honor the city of Georgetown, in Maryland, selected in 1790 for the Federal capital, was renamed Washington.