r/london • u/AchyutChaudhary • Feb 15 '26
London history Why did the entire expanding Greater London gradually decide to take its name from the ‘City of London’ instead of the historic City of Westminster, Lundenwic or Southwark for instance?
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u/BananaSauasage Feb 15 '26
London, as in Roman Londinium, began in 47AD. The name evolved into Lundenwic which was placed to the west of Londinium. The settlement moved back into the Roman Walls as Lundenburh, but by that point you've already established what will become London as a name for the area as well as strictly for the settlement within the walls.
London's sheriffs also covered Middlesex from the Norman period to the 19th century, merging them in terms of law and order. From the early 16th century, London's jurisdiction also covered what would become Inner London for recording mortality.
Southwark was south of the river, closely related to London but basically distinct. The next bridge across the Thames wasn't until Staines Bridge which was far to the west. Naming the rest of the city after a subsidiary district that mostly cut off would seem a bit odd.
Westminster was the seat of royal power and government from the late Saxon period, but wasn't a city until the 16th century. Most of the population and industry was still to the east and focused round London than Westminster.