A proper noun typically used as a place name or personal name, derived from Old English meaning 'old town' or 'old settlement'.
From Old English eald meaning 'old' and tūn meaning 'town, settlement, enclosure'. This compound was commonly used in Anglo-Saxon England to distinguish older settlements from newer ones. Many English towns bear this name, reflecting the historical practice of naming places descriptively.
The name Alton appears in dozens of English and American place names, making it one of the most recycled town names in the English-speaking world. Each Alton was once someone's way of saying 'the old place,' creating an interesting linguistic fossil of medieval settlement patterns.
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