'place-name' originates from English, a compound of 'place' (from Old French 'place', ultimately from Latin 'platea') and 'name' (from Old English 'nama', from Proto-Germanic '*namô'), where 'place' meant 'a standing area, square, or location' and 'name' meant 'a word by which a thing is called.'

'place' entered English via Old French 'place'; 'name' comes from Old English 'nama'. The compound was used in Middle English as 'place name' and later written as 'place-name' (hyphenated) or occasionally as the single word 'placename'.

Initially, the components referred simply to 'place' and 'name'; combined they meant 'the name of a place' — this basic meaning has remained stable, though the term 'toponym' (from Greek) is now used in more technical contexts.