Origin of the name London

London, the capital city of England and the United Kingdom, has been populated for at least two thousand years. The writings of Roman authors indicate that its history can be traced back to Roman times when it was called "Londinium". The seminal of Geoffrey of Monmouth, dated 1136, states that London was founded by Brutus, the great grandson of Aeneas (the Trojan). This statement is disputed today since archaeologists have found no evidence of its existence as a town before 47 AD. In fact, the very origin of the name "London" or "Londinium" as it once was called, is a mystery. However, some linguists believe that the name must have originated in pre-Roman times and even pre-Celtic times.

Recently, a linguistics professor, Richard Coates, concluded that the name had its origin in pre-celtic Old European. He says that it once must have been called "Plowonida", made up of the 'plew' meaning something to do with flowing, swimming, boating, washing away and 'nejd' simply meaning to flow. He believes that this name was originally given to a certain stretch of the river Thames. This area, below Westminster and before the Estuary, was too wide to ford. It was only suitable for boating purposes in other words. Today this is at the heart of London.

Professor Coates speculates that the Celts used to add "on" or "ojon" to place names, and "Plowonida" became "Plowonidon" and since they did not pronounce the letter "P" it later became "Lundonjon". There is evidence to suggest that it further evolved into "Lundein" or "Lundyn" and the Romans converted it to "Londinium".