|Needham was named after a town in Suffolk, England, called Needham Market. This area of Massachusetts was settled mostly by East Anglians, and many of the local towns are named after English towns in Suffolk, Essex and Norfolk (in fact, Needham is in Norfolk County). Needham was originally part of Dedham, the county seat, which was named after the English town of Dedham (in Essex). Thus, when Needham became a separate village from Dedham in 1711, it was also given the name of a familiar East Anglian village. None of the early residents of Needham bore the surname "Needham". |
The word "Needham" comes from the Anglo-Saxon, and means "Lower Village" (Germanic nieder- = nether or lower, and -ham, signifying a village or hamlet).