 An oft-quoted Celtic etymology in the "Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names", accepts the view of Padel (1985) that the name is from Cornish *"din" meaning "fort" and *"tagell" meaning "neck, throat, constriction, narrow" (Celtic *"dūn", "fort" = Irish "dún", "fort", "cf".Welsh "dinas", "city"; *"tagell" = Welsh "tagell", "gill, wattle").The modern-day village of Tintagel was always known as Trevena () until the Post Office started using 'Tintagel' as the name in the mid-19th century.