Tooting

[mez]

I was wondering how the borough of Tooting in west London got its peculiar name.

[geofbob]

While the place name Tooting may look and sound like the word for playing a penny whistle or flute, its origins have no connection with that word. The place name goes back to Saxon times, over a thousand years ago. Originally, it may have meant "the dwelling of the sons of Totas"; but another theory is that it derives from the Saxon for "slave dwelling". Like many place names, its pronunciation and spelling changed over the years, and eventually they became identical with the musical word.

[mac309]

As Geofbob suggested the meaning is the 'Settlement of family or followers of a man called Tota' or Possibly means 'People of the look-out place'. The affix of Bec means that it was of Norman possession of the Abbey of Bec-Hellouin'