Tolkien's choice of the name Tosto for this Hobbit is not explained, but he was perhaps influenced by the Anglo-Saxon name Tostig (most famously the name of an English earl, the brother of King Harold, who died in 1066). The meaning of the name is far from clear, though in general form it resembles Old English toste meaning 'toad'. That hardly seems a suitable name for an earl of royal blood, though it might conceivably have influenced Tolkien's choice of the name for the Hobbit Tosto Boffin.
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