<!-- This short description is INTENTIONALLY "none" - please see WP:SDNONE before you consider changing it! -->

The toponymy of England derives from a variety of linguistic origins. Many English toponyms have been corrupted and broken down over the years, due to language changes which have caused the original meanings to be lost. In some cases, words used in these place-names are derived from languages that are extinct, and of which there are no known definitions. Place-names may also be compounds composed of elements derived from two or more languages from different periods. The majority of the toponyms predate the radical changes in the English language triggered by the Norman Conquest, and some Celtic names even predate the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons in the first millennium AD.

The place-names of England, as in most other regions, typically have meanings which were significant to the settlers of a locality (though these were not necessarily the first settlers). Sometimes these meanings have remained clear to speakers of modern English (for instance Newcastle and Sevenoaks); more often, however, elucidating them requires the study of older languages. As the names lost their original meanings either due to the introduction of a new language or linguistic drift, they gradually changed, or were appended with newer elements. An example is Breedon on the Hill in Leicestershire, whose name seems to have grown by the accretion of elements from three different languages at different times in its history, all emphasising the hill.

Origins

thumb|350px|The western (red) and eastern (orange) dialects of Norse in the 10th century, with the related Germanic (yellow and green). In Britain and Ireland white denotes Celtic.

The place-names of England have diverse origins, largely due to historical changes in language and culture. These affected different regions at different times and to different extents. The exact nature of these linguistic/cultural changes is often controversial, but the general consensus is as follows.

The British Isles were inhabited during the Stone and Bronze Ages by peoples whose languages are unknown. During the Iron Age, the population of Great Britain shared a culture with the Celtic peoples inhabiting western Europe. Land use patterns do not appreciably change from the Bronze Age, suggesting that the population remained in situ. The language of these settlers (which would become Old English) came to be spoken over much of lowland Britain. Due to this replacement of tongue and population growth, most settlement names in modern England are discernibly Old English in origin. A large proportion of them contain personal names from the settlers and their descendants.

Some English place-names commemorate non-Christian religions, referring instead to the old Germanic religion: see List of non-Christian religious place-names in Britain.

A few centuries later, around AD 850–1050, the north and east of England were settled by Danish and Norwegian 'Vikings'. Many toponyms in these areas are thus of Old Norse origin. Since Old Norse had many similarities to Old English, there are also many hybrid English/Norse place-names in the Danelaw, the part of England that was under Danish rule for a time. Norse toponyms also frequently contain personal names, suggesting that they were named for a local chieftain.

After the Norman invasion of England in 1066, some Norman French influences can be detected in place-names, notably the simplification of to in Cerne and -cester, and suffixes of names of feudal lords as in Stoke Mandeville, or Church/Kirk/Bishop(s) (prefixed) or Episcopi/Abbot(t)s (rarely prefixed) in many cases of belonging to the church. The toponymy of England has remained relatively stable since the early Norman period, though the names have been generally simplified, harmonised to modern sounds and 'weathered' to modern forms.

Languages

Many languages have shaped and informed the nomenclature of England: various Celtic languages (including Brythonic, Goidelic (Old Irish), Welsh and Cornish (in the South West), Latin, Anglo-Saxon, Old Norse, Norman French and others.

Pre-Celtic

As the first written records of travellers to Britain date to the end of the first millennium BC, the languages of Britain prior to the arrival of Celtic-speakers are unknown. It is certain that some form of pre-Indo-European 'Old European' language, or more probably, languages, were spoken on the island prior to the arrival of peoples speaking Indo-European languages in Europe. These languages have left no record, and so identifying their possible traces in British toponymy is described by Richard Coates as "looking for needles in a haystack even though we are unsure exactly what needles look like and suspect that the haystack contains a few things which look a bit like what needles might look like."

Celtic

The main language spoken in Britain in the Iron Age is known as Common Brittonic, from which descend the modern languages of Cornish, Welsh and Breton. Cumbric, a now-extinct fourth descendant, was spoken in parts of northern England and lowland Scotland until the 11th century.

Brittonic place-names, or names with Brittonic elements, are extremely few in the south and east of England. Moving north and west, however, they increase substantially in frequency (for example, Crewkerne in Somerset and Morecambe in Lancashire). Cornish toponyms are overwhelmingly Celtic in origin. In Cumbria, Celtic place-names are mostly associated with natural features rather than settlements, such as the mountains Blencathra and Helvellyn.

There are some Goidelic place-names in England. However, they are far fewer in number than in Ireland or Scotland, and mostly due to the settlement of Norse-Gaels in north-west England in the 10th century.

Latin

Very few Roman names survived the end of Roman Britain in their original form, though many Roman settlements were reoccupied. These were generally renamed, although usually with the suffix caster/chester, from the Latin (camp). A number of Latin names survived through Celtic, such as Carlisle (cf. for ), Porthleven (compare with for 'harbour') and some associated with Christianity such as Eccles (compare with Latin from Greek , 'church'). Several places contain the element street, derived from the Latin (paved road); these are generally on the course of a Roman road, e.g. Chester-le-Street, Stratton-on-the-Fosse. However, this word was almost certainly borrowed into the Germanic languages prior to the migration of the Anglo-Saxons into Britain, and it may have been used natively by Germanic-speaking settlers.

Other Latin elements in British place-names were adopted in the medieval period as affectations. This includes the use of and instead of the more usual Great/Little; e.g. Chew Magna, Linstead Magna and Linstead Parva. Some Latin elements are more recent still: Bognor Regis, for example, received its honorific suffix (meaning 'of the King') from George V after he convalesced there.

English

Old English was the West Germanic language brought to England and Southeastern Scotland by Germanic tribes such as the Angles, Saxons and Jutes. Old English is typically divided into the Northumbrian, Mercian, West Saxon and Kentish dialects. The language evolved into Middle English, which was used from about 100 years after the Norman Conquest until the end of the Middle Ages. Modern English is derived directly from Middle English.

The overwhelming majority of place-names in England are of Old English origin, particularly in the southeast. Many derive from the name of a particular Anglo-Saxon settler.

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Commonly-occurring suffixes of Old English origin

|-

! scope="col" rowspan=2 | Suffix

!! scope="col" colspan=2 | Origin

!! scope="col" rowspan=2 | Examples

|-

! scope="col" | Old English Word

!! scope="col" | Meaning

|-

| scope="row" | -ham || || homestead / village || Dagenham, Horsham, Swaffham

|-

| scope="row" | (-)ham/hamm || || river meadow || South Hams, Ham, Hampton (in case given)

|-

| scope="row" | -ing || || people of || Reading, Worthing, Hastings

|-

| scope="row" | -ton || || fenced enclosure || Brighton, Bolton, Preston

|-

| scope="row" | -bury / -b(o)rough || || town || Middlesbrough, Banbury, Shrewsbury

|-

| scope="row" | -ford || || ford || Bradford, Oxford, Chelmsford

|-

| scope="row" | -ley || || clearing || Burnley, Keighley, Barnsley

|-

| scope="row" | -dale || || valley || Borrowdale, Calderdale, many others in the Yorkshire and Derbyshire Dales, Arundel, Sunningdale

|}

These suffixes are sometimes combined, as in Birmingham and Southampton.

Scandinavian languages

Old Norse, a North Germanic language from which both Danish and Norwegian are derived, was spoken by the Scandinavian settlers who occupied many places in the north of the British Isles during the Viking era and the splitting of England by the establishment of the Danelaw. In England, the Danes generally settled in East Anglia, East Midlands (Five Boroughs of the Danelaw, Danish Mercia) and Yorkshire (Jorvik), whilst the Norwegians settled in the northwest. The regional distribution of Norse-derived toponyms reflects these settlement patterns.

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Common elements in Norse place names

! scope="col" rowspan=2 | Suffix

!! scope="col" colspan=2 | Origin

!! scope="col" rowspan=2| Examples

|-

! scope="col" | Norse word

!! scope="col" | Meaning

|-

| scope="row" class="nowrap" | -by || || village || Derby, Grimsby, Wetherby

|-

| scope="row" class="nowrap" | -thorpe || || satellite farm || Scunthorpe, Mablethorpe

|-

| scope="row" class="nowrap" | -thwaite || || clearing / paddock || Slaithwaite, Bassenthwaite

|-

| scope="row" class="nowrap" | -toft || || homestead || Lowestoft

|}

Although the languages of the Danes and Norwegians were very similar, differences between the two can be found in place-names. For instance -by and -torp are much more common in place-names of Denmark whilst toft/taft and bister/ster/bost are more common in names of Norway; all these elements essentially mean 'settlement/dwelling'.

Norman French

Due to the Norman Conquest, some place-names gained an additive, mainly a suffix, giving the names of their new owners: for example Grays Thurrock which is the rare prefix version and typical Stoke Mandeville; Stanton Lacy; Newport Pagnell. The influence often disambiguates place-names with Norman French conjunctions, such as Hartlepool (said Hart-le-pool), Chapel-en-le-Frith, Chester-le-Street. Further disambiguation occurred then and/or became the dominant form centuries later, such as Henley-in-Arden and Henley-on-Thames.

Processes and patterns in British toponymy

For a general list of toponymic processes, see Place name origins.

  • Back-formation: the process whereby names are derived from one another in the opposite direction to that which would be expected; for example, a river with an obsolete/forgotten name being renamed after a town on its banks, even though the river existed before the town did. The river running through Rochdale became known as the 'Roch' through this process. Cambridge, perhaps uniquely, illustrates both normal and back-formation. Originally Grontabricc, a bridge on the Granta, the name evolved through Cantebruge and then Cambrugge, from which the river was renamed Cam.
  • Element order: In Germanic languages, and thus in Old English and Old Norse place-names, the substantive element is generally at the end of the name, preceded by its modifier(s); 'Badecca's water source' (Bakewell). In Celtic place-names, the order is usually the reverse, with the thing being described (hill, valley, farm etc.) as the first element: e.g. Tregonebris 'settlement (of) Cunebris' and Aberdeen 'mouth (of the) Dee'. An exception is Malvern 'bald hill'.
  • Translation: The general similarity of Old Norse and Old English meant that place-names in the Danelaw were often simply 'Norsified'. For instance, Askrigg in Yorkshire, 'ash ridge'; whilst the first element is indubitably the Norse (pronounced "ask"), ask- could easily represent a "Norsification" of the Old English element (pronounced "ash"). In this case both and mean the same: 'ash' (tree).
  • False analogy: Sometimes, however, the place-names were changed to match Norse pronunciation habits without reference to the original meaning. Thus Skipton should be 'Shipton' (Old English 'sheep farm'). However, since sh in Old English was usually cognate with sk in Old Norse, the name became changed by false analogy to Skipton, in this way losing its meaning to the Norse speakers (since the Old Norse for sheep was entirely different from the Old English), as well as rendering it obscure or unrecognizable in English.

Problems

  • Interpreting some names can be difficult if the reason for the name is no longer evident. Some names originally referred to a specific natural feature, such as a river, ford or hill, that can no longer be identified. For example, Whichford (Warwickshire) means "the ford on (of) the Hwicce", but the location of the ford is lost.
  • The elements (valley) and (hill) from Old English are sometimes confused now that their meanings are forgotten or obscure; for example Croydon is in a valley and Willesden is on a hill. Their expected spellings might therefore be "Croyden" and "Willesdon".
  • Another problematic element is -ey, as in Romsey. This commonly means 'island', from the Old English . However, -ey can also be derived from the Old English , meaning 'enclosure', as in Hornsey.
  • The elements wich and wick can have a variety of meanings. Generally wich/wick/wyke indicates a farm or settlement (e.g. Keswick = 'Cheese-farm'). However, some of the sites are of Roman, or shortly post-Roman origin, in which the wich is related to the Latin ('place'). These "wics" seem to have been trading posts. On the coast, wick is often of Norse origin, meaning 'bay' or 'inlet' (e.g. Lerwick).

Toponymy by region

Most English place-names are Old English.

Disambiguators in place-names

Where two or more villages with the same name were close together, disambiguators were typically formed and added to their names. These could be of a variety of forms:

  • An adjective referring to the village itself: Guilden (=golden), Long, Old, Porcorum (=of the pigs)
  • A church dedication: All Saints, St Andrew, Holy Cross, St David, St Edmund, St Faith, St Gabriel, St George, St Giles, St John, St Lawrence, St Ledgers, Magdalen, St Martin, St Mary, St Michael, St Nicholas, Pancras, Patrick, St Peter, St Philip, St Quintin, St Thomas, Trinity
  • A feature of the landscape or the village's position with respect to the landscape: by-the-Sea, by-Water, Dry, Fen, Fenny, Field, Fleet (=river), in-the-Whins, in-the-Willows, le-Clay, le-Dale, le-Moor, le-Moors, le-Sands, le-Side, le-Spring, le-Willows, le-Woods, Moor, Moorside, next-the-Sea, on-Sea, on-the-Hill, on-the-Marsh, on-the-Moor, on-the-Wolds, Sand, Stony, super-Mare (=on-Sea) Underwood, Water, Wood
  • A feature of the village itself: Chapel, Charterhouse, Church, Friary, Kirk, le-Street (=Roman road), Market, Minster, Mullen (=mill), Newmarket, Socon (=soke)
  • An indicator of relative position: East, High, Intrinseca (=within), Low, Lower, Nether, North, South, Upper, West
  • A landowner's first name: Colly, Edith, Ernest, Henry, John, Roof (=Rolph)
  • A landowner's position or office: Abbas, Abbott(s), Archdeacon, Bishop(s), Canonicorum (=canons), Canons, Child (=nobleman's son), Earls, Episcopi, Fratrum (=Hospitallers), King's, Minster, Monk, Nun, Prior, Provost, Regis, Sheriff
  • A landowner (e.g. an abbey)'s seat or headquarters: Bradstock, Bristol, Longville, Tinmouth
  • A landowner's surname (often corrupted): Beauchamp, Bingham, Blewett, Blossomville, Bray, Bryan, Bryant, Bubb, Cheney, Clinton, Conquest, Courtney, Dando, Dinham, Drew, Eagle, Fitzpaine, Gibbon, Glanville, Gobion, Goldington, Gorge, Gurney, Hammond, Herring, Malreward, Mandeville, Marshall, Martin, Massey, Matravers, Neville, Newburgh, Noble, Orcas, Palms, Parslow, Pauncefoot, Peverell, Piercy, Pigotts, Poges, Reigny, St Loe, Sampford, Sandford, Seymour, Stourton, Subcourse, Turville
  • A nearby particular town, village or landscape feature: by-Budworth, by-Castle-Acre, by-Sawdon, by-Sutton, juxta-Mondrum, next-Aylsham, next-Mileham, on-Fosse, on-Mendip, Polden, Sixpenny, Wall (=Roman fort)
  • A region (typically a hundred): by-Bowland, in-Ainsty, in-Amounderness, in-Bowland, in-Cartmel, in-Cleveland, in-Coverdale, in-Craven, in-Elmet, in-Furness, in-Gordano, in-Holderness, in-Lonsdale, in-Makerfield, in-Ribblesdale, in-Rutland, in-Teesdale, in-the-Forest, in-the-Isle, in-Wharfedale, le-Fylde, on-Spalding-Moor, on-the-Forest
  • A river: by-Welland, on-Eden, on-Esk, on-Lune, on-Ouse, on-Swale, on-Tees, on-Ure, on-Wharfe, on-Yore, Piddle, (up)on-Derwent, Weaver, Wharfe, Wiske
  • A size indicator: Great, Little, Magna

{| class="wikitable"

|-

|Newton Aycliffe and Newton Bewley Witton Gilbert and Witton-le-Wear

|-

|Hail Weston

|-

|Ashton-under-Lyne, Charnock Richard and Heath Charnock, Hutton and Priest Hutton, Ince Blundell, Kirkby Ireleth, Newton-with-Scales, Ulnes Walton

|-

|Barton Bendish and Barton Turf, Burgh Castle, Carleton Forehoe, Carleton Rode, Cockley Cley, Holme Hale, Kirby Bedon and Kirby Cane, Melton Constable, Newton Flotman, Blo' Norton, Pudding Norton, Stoke Ferry, Stow Bardolph and Stow Bedon, Stratton Strawless, Swanton Abbott, Swanton Morley and Swanton Novers

|-

|Castle, Cold and Mears Ashby, Barton Seagrave, Brampton Ash, Easton Maudit, Easton Neston, Cold Higham and Higham Ferrers, Hanging Houghton, Marston Trussell, Middleton Cheney, Newton Bromswold, Greens Norton, Preston Capes and Preston Deanery, Stoke Albany, Stoke Bruerne and Stoke Doyle, Sutton Bassett, Thorpe Achurch, Thorpe Lubenham, Thorpe Malsor and Thorpe Mandeville, Weedon Bec and Weedon Lois, Weston Favell, Woodford Halse, Yardley Hastings

|-

|Barley Thorpe

|-

|

  • Crosby Garrett and Crosby Ravensworth
  • Kirkby Kendal, Kirkby Lonsdale, Kirkby Stephen and Kirkby Thore
  • Brough Sowerby and Temple Sowerby

|-

|

  • Adwick-upon-Dearne
  • Ainderby Miers, Ainderby Quernhow and Ainderby Steeple
  • Allerton Bywater and Allerton Mauleverer
  • Appleton Roebuck
  • Barmby Moor
  • Bolton Abbey, Bolton Percy, and Castle Bolton
  • Brandes, Cherry, Constable Burton, Burton Agnes, Burton Constable, Burton Fleming, Burton Leonard, Burton-on-Yore, Burton Pidsea and Burton Salmon
  • Carlton Highdale & Town, Carlton Husthwaite, Carlton-in-Snaith and Carlton Miniott
  • Ellerton Abbey
  • Halton Gill
  • Hooton Levitt, Hooton Pagnell and Hooton Roberts
  • Hutton Bonville, Hutton Buscel, Hutton Conyers, Hutton Cranswick, Hutton Hang, Hutton-le-Hole, Hutton Mulgrave, Hutton Rudby and Hutton Sessay
  • Ingleby Arncliffe, Ingleby Barwick and Ingleby Greenhow
  • Cold Kirkby, Kirkby Fleetham, Kirkby Grindalythe, Kirkby Knowle, Kirkby Malham, Kirkby Malzeard, Kirkby Misperton, Kirkby Overblow, Kirkby Ravensworth, Kirkby Sigston, Kirkby Underdale
  • Middleton-on-Leven, Middleton Quernhow and Middleton Tyas
  • Bank, Out and Wold Newton, Newton Kyme, Newton Morrell, Newton Mulgrave, Newton-on-Rawcliffe
  • Norton Conyers
  • Preston-under-Scar
  • Seaton and Seaton Ross
  • Sowerby (North), Sowerby (West) and Sowerby-under-Cotcliffe
  • Full Sutton, Sutton Howgrave, Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe
  • Thornton Bridge, Thornton-le-Beans, Thornton Rust, Thornton Steward and Thornton Watlass
  • Thorpe Arch, Thorpe Audlin, Thorpe Bassett, Thorpe-in-Balne, Thorpe Salvin, Thorpe-sub-Montem, and Thorpe Willoughby
  • Wath-by-Ripon, Wath-in-Nidderdale and Wath-upon-Dearne
  • Welburn-on-Hodge-Beck

|}

See also

  • Odonymy in the United Kingdom
  • English Place-Name Society
  • List of places in England
  • Languages of England
  • List of British places with Latin names
  • Norman toponymy
  • Place names in Ireland
  • Scottish toponymy
  • Shieling
  • Welsh toponymy
  • List of river name etymologies
  • United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names
  • List of generic forms in place names in Ireland and the United Kingdom with explanations and examples
  • Territorial designation

References

Bibliography

  • G. B. Adams, Place-names from pre-Celtic languages in Ireland and Britain, Nomina 4 pp.46–83 (1980).
  • <!-- English place-names -->
  • K. Cameron, A Dictionary of British Place Names (2003).
  • R Coates, Toponymic Topics - Essays on the early toponymy of the British Isles.
  • E. Ekwall, The Oxford English Dictionary of English Place-Names, Oxford University Press, Fourth Edition (1960)
  • E. McDonald and J. Creswell, The Guinness Book of British Place Names (1993).
  • M. Gelling, W. F. H. Nicholaisen and M. Richards, The Names of Towns and Cities in Britain (1986).
  • A. D. Mills, A Dictionary of British Place Names, Oxford Paperback Reference (2003).
  • W. F. H. Nicolaisen, Old European names in Britain, Nomina 6 pp37–42 (1982.
  • P. H. Reaney, The Origin of English Place Names (1960).
  • A. Room, A Concise Dictionary of Modern Place Names in Great Britain (1983).
  • A. Room, Dictionary of World Place Names derived from British Names (1989).
  • C. C. Smith, The survival of British Toponymy, Nomina 4 pp.27–41 (1980).
  • Maps of distribution of final elements in English place-names
  • Bayesian analysis of UK place-names
  • A key to English place-names from the Institute for Name Studies, Nottingham
  • University of Wales Place-name Research Centre
  • Place-names and the Scots language: the marches of lexical and onomastic research
  • Domesday Book place-name forms—All the original spellings of English place-names in the Domesday Book (link to PDF file).
  • An Index to the Historical Place Names of Cornwall