Nov 30, 2015
The ending -ton, frequent in English place-names means "town, village". David Salo has suggested it represents a speculative Old Hobbitish *Holbytlatun "town of hobbits". He also notes that the name suggests two things: It was probably the first or more distinctive settlement of the area (making "town of hobbits" a distinctive name); and that it was given to it by the Big Folk (perhaps the Dúnedain of the North).[4]
Etymology of Hobbiton, TolkienGateway