Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2017 January 21

= January 21 =

Origin of Sheraton
Hi, do you know the origin of the name Sheraton (Sheraton Hotels and Resorts) ? It is not said in the page. I propose keraton (royal palace in Java, Indonesia), from ratu (queen). --Rapaloux (talk) 16:11, 21 January 2017 (UTC)
 * "Sheraton" was the name of one of the three hotels in Boston that Ernest Henderson, George Henderson and Robert Moore bought in Boston. It had a neon sign "Sheraton Hotel" that would have been very expensive to replace, so they adopted the name.  Of course, that still leaves the question of where the original Boston name came from, but I can't see your logic in guessing "keraton" though I suppose anything is possible.  Have we any Boston editors who could do some local research?    D b f i r s   16:49, 21 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Well Sheraton is an English surname (see Thomas Sheraton), and that, according to the Online Etymological Dictionary, derives from an Old English placename. I assume someone of that name owned the aforementioned hotel.  Rojomoke (talk) 17:56, 21 January 2017 (UTC)
 * from an Old English placename -- it's still there: Sheraton, County Durham --81.96.84.137 (talk) 21:05, 21 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Yes, if the Boston name came from the English one, then it is an old Norse name, recorded as "Scurufatan", around 1050 in the "History of St. Cuthbert". There is a similar name "Scruton" in North Yorkshire, and several places called "Scorton" in Yorkshire and Lancashire (UK). The names Sheraton and Scruton possibly derive from the Old Norse name "Skurfa", so the places would be "Skurfa's settlements".      D b f i r s   21:29, 21 January 2017 (UTC)


 * Wouldn't "Skurfa's town" be a more direct source for the name ? StuRat (talk) 17:58, 22 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Yes, the -ton ending was applied to settlements, many of which subsequently became what we now call towns.   D b f i r s   22:54, 22 January 2017 (UTC)
 * From the Old English language; "tun", originally meaning fenced area or enclosure, and by later extension, a farm or settlement, eventually becoming "town", but not until much later. See also List of generic forms in place names in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Alansplodge (talk) 16:56, 26 January 2017 (UTC)
 * It's possible that it is connected with Thomas Sheraton, see the Sheraton style of furniture making - maybe a hotel owner would want to connect his establishment with high-class design; "The Sheraton style was the most reproduced style in the United States during the Federal period" according to our article. But that's just a guess. Alansplodge (talk) 16:46, 22 January 2017 (UTC)


 * We also have the possibly related name Sheridan. StuRat (talk) 18:01, 22 January 2017 (UTC)


 * I am not sure about the confusion; our article says the name comes from a large electric sign in Boston. μηδείς (talk) 01:20, 27 January 2017 (UTC)