we wonders, precious, we wonders *gollum*

[Eruanna]

As previously stated the golem legends have been in Jewish and Eastern European myths and legends for countless centuries. Whilst I do not doubt that Professor Tolkien had heard of these legends I don't think that these were the origins of Gollum's name.
The name is just the representation of the sound:

"And when he said gollum he made a horrible swallowing noise in his throat."

Then in LotR:The Uruk-Hai, Pippin is trying to convince Grishnák that he has the Ring:

Then suddenly in the darkness he made a noise in his throat gollum, gollum.

Note the small case 'g' as it appears in the text of both The Hobbit and LotR.


As to the significance of Gollum's swallowing habit. A nervous 'tick'? A dry cough brought on by his habitat or diet? A physical manifestation of his 'swallowing' his guilt over the murder of his cousin? We will probably never know. But it is fun to speculate even so.