The name Gillingham was used for the town in its 10th century Saxon charter, and also in an entry for 1016 in the annals, as the location of a battle between Edmund Ironside and the Vikings. In the Domesday Book in 1086 it is recorded as "Gelingeham", and later spellings include "Gellingeham" in 1130, "Gyllingeham" in 1152 and "Gilingeham" in 1209. The name derives from a personal name plus the Old English "inga" and "hām", and means a homestead of the family or followers of a man called Gylla.