Washington

Where Washington comes from

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.
— Wiktionary's entry for Washington
  • 3 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1783
    Washington Irving born
    American writer, historian and diplomat
  2. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #350 among boys — 24 babies in the first year on record.
  3. 1884
    Peak, #325
    29 babies named Washington — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1887
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #516.
  5. 1975
    Washington Stecanela Cerqueira born
    Brazilian association football player
In the dictionary
  • A male given name transferred from the surname, popular during the first century of American independence, given in honor of George Washington.
Namesakes
  • Washington Irving · American writer, historian and diplomat, 1783–1859
  • Washington Stecanela Cerqueira · Brazilian association football player, born 1975
  • Washington Luís · President of Brazil from 1926 to 1930, 1869–1957
  • Washington Allston · American artist, 1779–1843
  • Washington Luiz Mascarenhas Silva · Brazilian association football player, born 1978

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.