The name Otford may be a contraction of "Otterford", possibly derived from Offa, the King of Mercia who fought the Kentish Saxons in 776 at the Battle of Otford. "The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 3", published 1797, indicates that Otford's Saxon name was "Ottanford". It further notes that: "In 791, Offa, king of Mercia, whose gifts to the British churches and monasteries in general were great and munificent, gave Otteford to the church of Canterbury."