Carlton

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A masculine first name or family name of English origin ; a place name, such as the inner-city suburb of Melbourne in Australia
2. Used as a male given name or a surname ; also the name of a locality, notably an inner suburb of Melbourne, Australia
3. A man's first name or a family name ; a geographical name borne by a settlement, especially a well-known suburb in Melbourne

Etymology: Carlton began as an Old English compound: "ceorl" meant a freeman, a man of the lower free rank rather than a noble, and "tūn" meant an enclosure, farmstead or village. Put together, the two words named a settlement of free farmers. The same name exists in its older spelling as Charlton, and the two are doublets, forms of one name that split apart over time. The hard "k" sound in Carlton, where Charlton has the "ch" of "church", is the surprising part. Old English "ceorl" was pronounced with a "ch" sound, so the two spellings were once close relatives. The shift toward "k" is attributed to the influence of Old Norse, the language of Scandinavian settlers in northern and eastern England, whose speakers pronounced the word with a hard "k". As a place name, Carlton was carried far from England. Carlton in Melbourne, Australia, is the best-known bearer, and its name shows the same old Anglo-Saxon farmstead sense now attached to a city suburb.