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Erin Fischer
Doctor Eska
History of the English Language
4 April 2015
The Evolution of Loudoun County, Virginia Place Names
Day to day we do not think about the origin of place names; however, the purpose of this
essay is to uncover where and how six Northern Virginia places earned their names. Specifically,
this essay will focus on the etymology and brief histories of Loudoun County and the towns of
Leesburg, Hamilton, Ashburn, Sterling, and Lucketts. These places and their names largely
reflect the colonial influence in Northern Virginia, as well as the fast-paced suburban
development that has occurred in the past few decades.
The section of land now known as Loudoun County, Virginia, was awarded to Francis
Awbrey in 1730 by Thomas, the Sixth Earl of Fairfax. Until 1757, however, the sum of land that
would become Loudoun County, belonged to Fairfax County. In 1757, the western segment of
Fairfax County was named Loudoun for John Campbell, the Fourth Earl of Loudoun. Campbell,
Scottish nobleman and nominal Governor of Virginia from 1756 to 1768, held the position as
Commander-in-Chief for the British armed forces in America. As far as the etymological history
of Loudoun County is concerned, the exact etymology of the name Loudoun is uncertain. The
name derives from Loudoun Hill in East Ayrshire, Scotland, in which case, Loudoun combines
the Scottish Gaelic words law and dun, which, according to The Dictionary of the Scots
Language, mean “rounded hill” and “pre-historic fort,” respectively. Along the lines of the
Loudoun Hill model, the name Loudoun might also originate from Lugudunon, or “The Fortress
of Lugh.” Moreover, Loudoun might simply refer to the Celtic word loddan for “marshy
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ground;” however, the specific Celtic origin of loddan is uncertain, thus making the etymology
problematic.
Located in Loudoun County, Virginia, Leesburg originally amounted to 60 acres, and
was located “[a]t the intersection of the major north-south Carolina Road (now U.S. Highway
15) and the east-west oriented Potomac Ridge Road (now Virginia Highway 7)” (“A Brief
History of Leesburg”). The town was officially named for Thomas Lee in 1757, when the
Assembly of Virginia chose the town as the location of the Loudoun County courthouse.
Responsibility for building was granted to the town trustees, Nicholas Minor, Philip Ludwell
Lee, and Francis Lightfoot Lee. Leesburg was originally named George Town by Nicholas
Minor, who owned the land, and was divided into 70 lots that were bounded by three north-south
and four east-west streets.
The word lee, from which Leesburg received its name, originates from Old English hleo,
which the Online Etymology Dictionary defines as “shelter, cover, defense, protection.” The
word hleo derives from Proto-Germanic *khlewaz, which might have meant, although scholars
are uncertain, “warm,” thus linking in to Proto-Indo European (PIE) *kele-, which also implied
warmth. Moreover, the suffix burg (American English colloquial for borough) in Leesburg
derives from Old English burg or burh, which the Online Etymology Dictionary defines as “a
dwelling or dwellings within a fortified enclosure.” Moreover, the Online Etymology Dictionary
further notes that the Old English form originates from the Proto-Germanic *burgs “hill fort,
fortress,” and *burgs from the PIE root *bherg- for “high,” with connections to “hills, hill forts,
and fortified elevations.” Thus Leesburg, named for Thomas Lee, literally means “sheltered
dwelling.”
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Hamilton, Virginia, just six miles west of Leesburg, was inhabited by unspecified Native
American tribes until settled by Europeans in the 1730s. The town was originally named
Harmony, after the Harmony Estate owned by Richard Tavenner and his wife Ann Hatcher.
Previously, in 1768, Tavenner’s parents George and Tabitha Roach Tavenner “were the first to
build a house in the Hamilton area” (Town of Hamilton). The town was later known as Hamilton
Store, after the store established by Charles Bennett Hamilton. Moreover, the town was officially
named Hamilton in 1835 when John Quincy Adams “approved a post office in Charles Bennett
Hamilton’s store” (Town of Hamilton). The name Hamilton first appeared as Hamelton in 1291
and stems from Old English hamel or ham(m) for “enclosure for animals, notably swine, horses,
calves, deer, and sheep” (Gwara) and tūn, and refers to “farm in broken country” (Field).
Formerly named Farmwell, after the mansion owned by George Lee, Ashburn, Virginia,
lies seven miles east of Leesburg. George Lee, the great-grandson of Thomas Lee, for whom
Leesburg was named, inherited the Farmwell plantation in 1805 upon the death of his father
Thomas Ludwell Lee II. The 11,182 acres that constitute Ashburn were originally granted to
Thomas Lee from 1719 to 1728. One hundred years later, the 4,700 acres would remain in the
hands of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Ashburn would remain primarily rural
farmland until the 1980s, when it experienced a significant development and population boom.
The earliest known uses of the name Ashburn were “Æscburne” and “Æscburnan” in the
early 11th Century, and the name appears as Ays(s)heborne in 1504 and 1553. The name derives
from æsc for “ash tree” and burna for “stream.” The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place
Names also notes that the Ashburn is a tributary of the Dart, and “is now called Yeo.” Other
forms of the name include Ashburton, Essebretone (1086), Aisbernatonam (1150), Esperton
(1187), Asperton(e) (1238-1309), As(s)hperton (1313-1356), and Aysshberton (1483).
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Before housing development began in 1963, Sterling, Virginia, first known as Sterling
Park, consisted of 1,762 acres of large farms. When construction of Dulles International Airport
(Dulles) began in 1959, the installation of major water and sewer lines significantly transformed
the area. Moreover, the price of land quadrupled, from $125 per acre to $500 per acre. Shortly
after airport construction began, Marvin T. Broyhill and his father decided to develop the land
surrounding Dulles. According to the Loudoun County zoning ordinance, the Broyhills could
either develop “a house on each acre with a septic tank or a ‘planned community’, smaller lots in
combination with tracts of open land for recreation and schools” (Scheel “With ‘The Park,’
County's Growth Battles Were Just Beginning”). Because sewage lines did not extend that far,
Broyhill selected the “planned community” method of development. In the late winter of 1961,
when Broyhill decided to purchase the land, he established the Sterling Park Development
Corporation with his father and cousin. Beginning on April 28 and extending through December
29 of that year, the Sterling Park Development Corporation purchased Sterling Park in 14 parcels
for $2,115,783.86. Additionally, the corporation purchased Jesse Hughes’s 226-acre dairy farm,
adjacent to Route 7, for $1,700 per acre. After providing the Loudoun County School Board with
a $250 proffer per household, the Broyhill’s filed their plat for “Broyhill’s Addition to Sterling
Park.” Once the debate concerning plot sizes was resolved, Sterling Park sold its first three
houses on February 14, 1963, and another six the following day. It was not until August 1966
that Sterling Park finally allowed African-American home buyers, which significantly reflects
the underlying racial differences of the time.
The name “sterling” has several possible origins: Early Middle English sterling; Old
French esterlin; medieval Latin esterlingus, sterlingus, or sterlinus; Middle High German
sterlinc; or Italian sterlino. Moreover, the Oxford English Dictionary cites that the –ling likely
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originates from the Old English diminutive suffix. The French form esterlin likely originated “in
a charter of the Norman abbey of Préaux” (Oxford English Dictionary) in either 1085 or 1104;
whereas Ducange refers to the Anglo-Latin form sterlingus in 1180. Other forms appear across
the European continent throughout the 13th Century. If the word stems from Old English, it likely
refers to the Norman penny known as a *steorling, or a “coin with a star” (Oxford English
Dictionary). Another potential root is from the Old English stær, or “starling,” which refers “to
the four birds (usually called ‘martlets’) on some coins of Edward the Confessor” (Oxford
English Dictionary). However, if the word had derived from stær, phonetically the formation of
the word starling would be more logical. Finally, scholars previously believed that “sterling”
formed from the shortening of Easterling, which refers to the Easterling moneyers who fashioned
the coin; however, if this were the case, “the stressed first syllable would not have been dropped”
(Oxford English Dictionary).
Named for the Lucketts family, specifically Thomas Hussey Luckett, Lucketts, Virginia,
has an extensive history. Well before the 1757 formation of Loudoun County, the Lucketts
family possessed lands in Maryland adjacent to the Potomac River. Although Thomas Hussey
Luckett married Elizabeth Nolan in 1770, her wealthy father Philip Nolan of Loudoun County
did not sell Luckett his 182 and a half acres until September 13, 1785. The following year,
Luckett’s will reveals that Thomas Luckett left his plantation to his son, later baptized Thomas
Luckett, and “a Negro man named Sam” (Scheel “Lucketts History”). Further, on May 5, 1809,
Luckett’s wife Elizabeth Nolan Luckett sold the plantation to Samuel Clapham, as Clapham’s
father, Josias, owned several acres of land surrounding the Luckett’s property. Luckett’s son,
also named Thomas, continued to live on his other Loudoun lands in what is now the Village of
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Lucketts. The Lucketts manner was located on the crossroads of Lucketts and remained in the
family well into the 19th Century.
In 1870, the crossing of Nolan’s Ferry Road and Leesburg Point of Rocks Road (now
Route 15) was named Luckett’s Cross Roads. In the late 1880s, Republican President Harrison
approved Democrat Samuel Luckett’s proposal for a post office in Lucketts; however, the village
was officially named Luckets. The second “t” was not permanently added until 1912, when
Roger W. Luckett gained postmastership. The post office remained in the Lucketts family until
Mae Arnold Luckett closed the post office in 1960.
The name Luckett originated during the early medieval English period and is a
diminutive of the name Luke from Latin “Lucas” or Greek “Loucas” for “man of Lucania.”
Located in southwest Italy, Lucania likely finds its meaning from the Italian word for “bright” or
“shining.” The name Luke was frequently “given by a craftsman to his son” (“Last Name:
Luckett”) after St. Luke the Evangelist, the patron saint of doctors and painters. First recorded as
Lucas in the 12th Century, Luke was the established form of the name in England by the 13th
Century. Several surnames have evolved from the names Luck and Luke, including Luck, Look,
Luckett, Lucock, Lukin, Loket, and Lockett. The Luckett surname first appears as Loket in 1275,
a time when surnames became required for personal taxation. Eudo Loket, who resided in the
“Hundred Rolls of Norfolk,” lived during the reign of King Edward I. Since then, the name
Loket has continued to evolve in countries throughout the world. For example, The Cambridge
Dictionary of English Place-Names records that Luckett might also refer to “Leofa’s cottage(s),”
noting that the name is recorded as Lovecott in 1557 and Lucot in 1813. The Cambridge
Dictionary of English Place-Names suggests that Old English Leofa combined with cot or plural
cotu to eventually form Luckett.
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The locations here discussed highlight Loudoun County, Virginia’s English Colonial
influence, and the etymology of the six names are primarily British in origin. Founded in 1757,
and named after John Campbell, the Fourth Earl of Loudoun, Loudoun County has Scottish
Gaelic origins, and likely refers to Loudoun Hill in East Ayrshire, Scotland. Leesburg was also
founded in 1757 and was named for Thomas Lee. The name Leesburg stems from Old English
and refers to “a sheltered dwelling.” Furthermore, Hamilton, whose name also originates from
Old English, plainly means “farm in broken country” (Field). Moreover, Ashburn, although
officially granted to Thomas Lee in 1719, was not significantly developed in the 1980s, and its
name derives for a dialect of Great Britain. Sterling, like Ashburn, was also fully developed
much later in 1963, and its name has several potential origins, from Early Middle English to Old
French, medieval Latin, Middle High German, or Italian. Finally, Lucketts has an extensive
history, which extends back to before Loudoun County was founded in 1757. Whereas the
current form of the name has been anglicized, Lucketts is a diminutive of Latin “Lucas” or Greek
“Loucas.” In summary, these six place names, regardless of origin, certainly reflect the British
adaptations of the names and the extensive Colonial history of Loudoun County, Virginia.
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Works Cited
“A Brief History of Leesburg.” Leesburg, VA: History of Leesburg. Leesburg, VA, n.d. Web. 18
Mar. 2015.
Watts, Victor. The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2004. Print.
“Dictionary of the Scots Language.” Dictionary of the Scots Language. University of Glasgow,
n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2015.
Field, John. Place-names of Great Britain and Ireland. Newton Abbot, Devon: David & Charles,
1980. Print.
Gwara, Scott. “Old English ‘Helm’, ‘Hamel’, ‘Healm’: Three Lexical Problems in Glosses to
Aldhelm's Prose De Virginitate.” Notes and Queries 37.2 (1990): 144.
“History of Loudoun County.” History of Loudoun County, Virginia. Thomas Balch Library,
n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2015.
“Last Name: Luckett.” The Internet Surname Database. Name Origin Research, n.d. Web. 27
Mar. 2015.
Loudoun, Craufuird C. A History of the House of Loudoun and Associated Families. Darvel,
Ayrshire: Alloway, 2006. Print.
Mair, James. Pictorial History of Darvel. Darvel: Alloway, 1989. Print.
Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press, n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2015.
“Online Etymology Dictionary.” Online Etymology Dictionary. Douglas Harper, n.d. Web. 18
Mar. 2015.
Scheel, Eugene. “Ashburn Village's Agrarian Roots.” Ashburn Village's Agrarian Roots. Thomas
Balch Library, n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2015.
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Scheel, Eugene. “Lucketts History.” Lucketts Community Center. Lucketts Community Center,
n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2015.
Scheel, Eugene. “With ‘The Park,’ County's Growth Battles Were Just Beginning.” Sterling Park
Virginia Starts the Growth Battle in Loudoun County in 1961. Thomas Balch Library,
n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2015.
Town of Hamilton. Comprehensive Plan for the Town of Hamilton. Comprehensive Plan. Town
of Hamilton, 10 Mar. 2003. Web. 8 Apr. 2015.