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The London Underground might only date back a couple of centuries but the areas that lent their names to the stations often go back way further.

As you'd expect from a city like London, many of them are named after pubs but we've got stately homes, sports grounds and literal mud thrown in the mix as well.

Here are the strange tales behind some of London's Tube stations.

Paddington

(Image: N Chadwick)

The age old question. Who came first, the station or the bear?

Considering the area the station sits has been called Paddington pretty much since Anglo-Saxon times and Paddington Bear has only been delighting the nation since 1958, this question is fairly easy.

Also anyone who knows the story behind the nation’s favourite bear will know he was named after the station where the Brown family found him - Paddington.

There are a few explanations including connections to a Lord named Padda who is referenced in the Domesday Book.

But ultimately the etymology of the word Paddington is fairly uncertain. And as P. Bear is jostling with David Attenborough to be the UK’s most beloved icon, maybe we should re-jig it when asked by trusting tourists: “Why yes, Paddington Station is named after the bear.”

Cockfosters

Making teenage boys (and the rest of us, to be honest) giggle their way through many a tube journey, Cockfosters sits on the end of the Piccadilly Line.

The first record of this place was in 1524 and is thought to be named after a family or a particular house.

Swiss Cottage

(Image: Google Maps)

Despite sounding like a Tesco own-brand cheese, Swiss Cottage has one of the most literal etymologies on this list.

The area is named after a pub that was built in the early 19th Century in the style of a Swiss chalet. You can still go to the eponymous pub, now called Ye Olde Swiss Cottage.

Shepherd's Bush

This area probably takes its name from some shrub of note on the triangular Shepherd’s Bush Green.

Shepherds would rest their flocks here on the way to Smithfields Market. But it could also be named after a person called Sheppard, who, we imagine, was probably descended from a Shepherd. A sadly wooly answer.

Mudchute

(Image: Lucy Skoulding)

Originally recorded as Mud Shoot, the area was named after the foul smelling mud that used to be pumped out of the Millwall Docks to prevent it silting over.

When the Millwall Football stadium was in this area, Corinthians player Frederick Pelly said if you fell on the pitch "the smell wouldn't come off for weeks".

Arsenal

This is the only Tube station in London to be named directly after a football club (at the moment, since White Hart Lane station is set to be renamed Tottenham Hotspur). It was originally known as Gillespie Road, but was renamed in 1932 after Arsenal Football Club, who played at the nearby Highbury Stadium.

Although that stadium closed in 2006, fans still use the station to get to games at the newer Emirates Stadium.

Oval

(Image: OLLY GREENWOOD/AFP/Getty Images)

Although the station is named after the famous cricket grounds, the name Oval predates the ground.

It comes from the Kennington Oval, a market garden so named for its shape that was owned by the Duchy of Cornwall.

Elephant and Castle

True to brand, here’s another area named after a pub.

Evidence of the Elephant and Castle pub was recorded in 1765 but Shakespeare made a reference to "In the south suburbs, at the Elephant, is best to lodge." in his play, Twelfth Night.

A rumour persists that the name was a corruption of the Spanish "La Infanta de Castilla” for one of the many Spanish princesses who drifted through the city at one stage or another. Little evidence exists for this though.

Angel

(Image: Google Maps)

Whoever’s been here on a Friday night can vouch for there being nothing holy about this area.

In fact it’s named after…… another pub.

The Angel Inn stood at this important route into London in one form or another since the beginning of the 17th Century. It was an important refuge from robbers and highwayman. The Angel’s most recent manifestation is a Wetherspoons.

Marylebone

Named after a church dedicated to St Mary and the small stream or ‘bourne’ on which the building sat, the area became known as St Mary at the Bourne.

This slowly got boiled down to Marylebone. Somehow that's now pronounced something like 'Marrleebone'. Go figure. It is commonly and incorrectly thought to be a corruption of Marie la Bonne (French for Mary the good).

East India DLR

(Image: Google Maps)

A shout out to the days of Empire.

This station takes its name from the nearby East India Docks which handled a huge amount of the goods flooding in from the East Indies.

Cyprus DLR

Fed up of all your mates telling you about their great holidays when you’re stuck in London?

Tell them you’re off to Cyprus and then just hop on the DLR to this distant corner of London. Hole up in a pub for a few days, get a fake tan and you’ll be bragging with the rest of them.

The area is named after the Cyprus Estate, a housing estate built for workers at the Royal Albert Dock. The estate itself was named in celebration of The British Empire's 1878 acquisition of the island of Cyprus.

Tooting Broadway

(Image: Ellie McKinnell)

There has been a town in the Tooting area since pre-Saxon times flourishing along the old Roman road between London and Chichester. Some very clever people argue about the true origin of the name Tooting with some believing it to be referring to the Tota people who could have lived in the area.

It also could have come from the old meaning of the verb tout, to look out. There may have been a look-out post here overseeing this important route into London.