Editing Brighton (section)

==Toponymy==
The earliest attestation of Brighton's name is ''Bristelmestune'', recorded in the ''[[Domesday Book]]''. Although more than 40 variations have been documented, ''Brighthelmstone'' (or ''Brighthelmston'') was the standard rendering between the 14th and 18th centuries.<ref name="VCH56961">{{cite web |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/Sussex/vol7/pp244-263 |title=A History of the County of Sussex: Volume 7 – The Rape of Lewes. The Borough of Brighton |editor-last=Salzman |editor-first=L. F. |editor-link=Louis Francis Salzman |year=1940 |department=[[Victoria County History]] of Sussex |website=British History Online |pages=244–263 |access-date=27 September 2011 |archive-date=17 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200817205211/https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/sussex/vol7/pp244-263 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="NEB44">{{Harvnb|Collis|2010|p=44.}}</ref>

"Brighton" was originally an informal shortened form, first seen in 1660; it gradually supplanted the longer name and was in general use from the late 18th century, although ''Brighthelmstone'' remained the town's official name until 1810.<ref name="NEB44"/> The name is of [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] origin. Most scholars believe that it derives from ''Beorthelm'' + ''tūn''—the [[Homestead (buildings)|homestead]] of [[Beorhthelm (disambiguation)|Beorthelm]]<!--intentional link to DAB page-->, a common Old English name associated with villages elsewhere in England.<ref name="NEB44"/> The ''tūn'' element is common in Sussex, especially on the coast, although it occurs infrequently in combination with a personal name.<ref name="HistAtlas32–33">{{Harvnb|Leslie|Short|1999|pp=32–33.}}</ref> An alternative etymology taken from the Old English words for "stony valley" is sometimes given but has less acceptance.<ref name="NEB44"/> ''Brighthelm'' gives its name to, among other things, a church,<ref name="NEB39">{{Harvnb|Collis|2010|p=39.}}</ref> a pub in Brighton,<ref name="JDW-Brighthelm">{{cite web |url=http://www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk/home/pubs/the-bright-helm |title=The Bright Helm |year=2009–2013 |publisher=[[J D Wetherspoon]] plc |access-date=23 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224105810/http://www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk/home/pubs/the-bright-helm |archive-date=24 December 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> some halls of residence at the [[University of Sussex]].<ref name="UniSx-Brighthelm">{{cite web |url=http://www.sussex.ac.uk/residentialservices/residences/oncampus/brighthelm |title=Brighthelm |publisher=[[University of Sussex]] |year=2013 |access-date=23 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224112400/http://www.sussex.ac.uk/residentialservices/residences/oncampus/brighthelm |archive-date=24 December 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Writing in 1950, historian Antony Dale noted that unnamed [[Antiquarian|antiquaries]] had suggested an Old English word "brist" or "briz", meaning "divided", could have contributed the first part of the historic name Brighthelmstone. The town was originally split in half by the [[Wellesbourne, Brighton|Wellesbourne]], a [[Winterbourne (stream)|winterbourne]] which was culverted and buried in the 18th century.<ref name="DaleH&A10+34">{{Harvnb|Dale|1950|pp=10, 34.}}</ref>

Brighton has several nicknames. Poet [[Horace Smith (poet)|Horace Smith]] called it "The Queen of Watering Places", which is still widely used,<ref name="Antram3">{{Harvnb|Antram|Morrice|2008|p=3.}}</ref> and "Old Ocean's Bauble".<ref name="EncB16">{{Harvnb|Carder|1990|loc=§. 16.}}</ref> Novelist [[William Makepeace Thackeray]] referred to "Doctor Brighton", calling the town "one of the best of Physicians". "London-by-the-Sea" is well-known, reflecting Brighton's popularity with Londoners as a day-trip resort, a commuter dormitory and a desirable destination for those wanting to move out of the metropolis. "The Queen of Slaughtering Places", a pun on Smith's description, became popular when the [[Brighton trunk murders]] came to the public's attention in the 1930s.<ref name="EncB16"/> The mid-19th-century nickname "School Town" referred to the remarkable number of boarding, charity and church schools in the town at the time.<ref name="Sampson56">{{Harvnb|Sampson|1994|p=56.}}</ref>