The Name ?
Here is my guess, the Old Man of Conistons name, came from the fact the mountain has protected and looked over the village of Coniston for hundreds of years, i like to think the the name 'Old' = the time the mountain has stood and guarded the village, 'Man' = Mamm, as in the Peak District and Scotland refers to Mother ( Oh my god i have said the Old Man is a Woman ) and Coniston refers to the ancient name, which means the 'Kings Hamlet'.
So the name comes from, 'the protecting mother that watched over the Kings hamlet'.
Just my guess.
One last point, did you know that the 'Old Man' was the mountain used for the idea of the mountain in the 'Swollows and the Amazons'