Eldest son of Fingolfin and second high king of the Noldor in Beleriand until his father’s death (S/60). His name is an adaptation of his Quenya name Findecáno which roughly means “Hair Shout” (PM/345), a combination of fîn “hair” and the suffix -gon seen in the several names (SA/fin, káno).
Conceptual Development: The name of this character was Fin(n)weg in the earliest Silmarillion drafts (SM/14), though the name Fingon appeared in later revisions of the Lays of Beleriand from the 1920s (LB/80). In Silmarillion drafts from the early 1930s, the name Finweg was consistently revised to Fingon (SM/89), and remained thus thereafter.
In The Etymologies from the 1930s, N. Fingon was given as a derivative of ᴹ✶Phindekāno containing ON. phinde “skill” and the suffixal form -gon of caun “valour” (Ety/PHIN, KAN). Later Tolkien briefly considered revising this name to S. Fingorn “Revered Finwe” using the same final element as Aragorn, but quickly rejected this idea (PE17/113). He then considered various etymologies for Fingon using the roots √KUN(DU), √KON and √KAN, the last of which is given above.
hair shout (if interpretable at all); find (“hair, a tress”) + caun (“outcry, clamour”) S name of Findekáno.