I thought Gotham got its name from New York ("Gotham" was a nickname for New York during the 19th century).
This BBC article explains the history:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-24760791
The real Gotham: The village behind the Batman stories
People in Gotham are accustomed to hearing Batman jokes, but many aren't aware of its historical connection to the fictional Gotham City. So how did a sleepy Nottinghamshire settlement lend its name to a city of crime and corruption?
Gotham is now a friendly village popular with families, but a few hundred years ago its residents had a reputation for "madness".
One story goes that King John, also the villain in the legend of Robin Hood, was due to travel through Gotham on his way to nearby Nottingham.
Any road the king travelled on would become a public highway, so the villagers are said to have feigned madness to deter the king - as it was thought to be infectious.
Their absurd acts included building a fence around a bush to prevent a cuckoo escaping, and attempting to drown an eel in a pond.
The trick worked, leading to the saying: "There are more fools pass through Gotham than remain in it." Villagers were also dubbed the Wise Men of Gotham.
Word of the supposedly foolish acts spread, and they were collected in various books including The Merie Tales of the Mad Men of Gotam, published in 1565.
The American author Washington Irving became aware of the tales and was the first person to link Gotham in England with New York in the US.
He repeatedly referred to Manhattan as Gotham when writing, in 1807, in the Salmagundi papers, a satirical periodical mocking New Yorkers.
Gotham then became a popular nickname for New York City and is still used today, in shop names and notably at the Gotham Center for New York City History.
Edwin G Burrows and Mike Wallace also explained how the name was adopted by New Yorkers in their book Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898.
They said: "Manhattanites would not likely have taken up a nickname so laden with pejorative connotations - even one bestowed by New York's most famous writer - unless it had redeeming qualities, and indeed some of the tales cast Gothamites in a flattering light."
Gill Hind, former chairman of Gotham Parish Council in England, tried for many years to have Gotham twinned with New York City.
"We always knew there was some sort of a link but we wanted to have it verified, then we found out about the Washington Irving connection," she says.
"We did think it would be so lovely to have have a sign at the beginning of the village saying 'Gotham, twinned with New York'."
Although the city and village have not been twinned, the former mayor of New York sent a letter wishing Gotham well and acknowledging the link between the two places.
Rudolph Giuliani wrote that it was "a pleasure to have this opportunity to acknowledge the cultural and historical link" between the two places.
Nolan went back to the roots.