Clapham is an area of South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth.
Clapham dates back to Anglo-Saxon times: the name is thought to derive from the Old English clopp(a) + ham or hamm, meaning Homestead/enclosure near a hill.
According to the history of the Clapham family maintained by the College of Heralds, in 965 AD King Edgar of England gave a grant of land at Clapham to Jonas, son of the Duke of Lorraine, and Jonas was thenceforth known as Jonas "de [of] Clapham". The family remained in possession of the land until Jonas` great-great grandson Arthur sided against William the Conqueror during the Norman invasion of 1066 and, losing the land, fled to the north (where the Clapham family remained thereafter, primarily in Yorkshire).