washington

The story

1. Old English*Hwæssa
2. Proto-Indo-European*dewh₂-
3. Proto-Indo-European*duh₂-nós?
4. Proto-Celtic*dūnom
5. Proto-Germanic*tūną
6. Proto-West Germanic*tūn
7. Old Englishtūn
8. Old EnglishHwæssingatūn
9. English todayWashington

Washington (the town in Tyne and Wear, northeast England): probably from the Old English place name Hwæssingatūn (literally “a settlement of the household of *Hwæssa”), from *Hwæssa (a Saxon chieftain's name) + -ing (“belonging to”) + tūn (“homestead, settlement”). It was attested in 1096 as Wasindone. *Hwæssa is of uncertain origin, said to possibly correspond to waþ (“hunt”) + sige (“victory”), or possibly related to hwæte (“wheat”). There are other theories; more on Wikipedia. The surname derives from the town, and most places in the United States are named for George Washington.