In England, prior to the 15th Century, the majority of place names were adaptations of the location or features of the landscape or referred to the land ownership.
The naming of these places dated back to the Celts, Romans, Vikings, Angles and Saxons as well as the French of the new Norman Invaders of England.
Reputedly, more than 1,500 place names in England have Scandinavian origins, which for obvious reasons of invasion were focused on the Eastern side of the country in counties such as Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.
This can be useful to a surveyor or anyone with an interest in a specific location. E.g. if the place name means lake, river or stream, will buildings there be more likely to flood?
Examples of the common roots and components of place names in the UK include:
| Avon | Means River in Celtic |
| Beck | The Scandinavian word for stream is Bekkr |
| Bury, Borough | A fortified place or settlement. Congresbury, |
| By | Village – usually at the end of the word like Derby, Corby or Coningsby |
| Caster, Chester, Cester | A Roman fort or settlement like Chichester, Chester, Cirencester |
| Clopp | A hill. Clophill, Clapham |
| Coombe, Comb, Coomb, Cumb | A valley. Mothercombe |
| Cott, Cote | A house, home or cottage. |
| Dean or Dene | Little Valley |
| Den | Pasture for pigs |
| Don | Derived from Dun meaning hill |
| Essex | See Sex. East Land of the Saxons |
| Eg, Ea or Ey | Promontry or Peninsular. Withernsea, Pevensey, Romney |
| Farn | Anglicisation of Fern. Farnborough, Farnley |
| Field | Feld means open land – Area without trees. Sheffield |
| Flete | A stream |
| Frith | A wood for hunting for the use of a lord or king |
| Ham | A village or Estate. Hamlet – A little village |
| Holme or Holme. Holt | A wood (Saxon) |
| Hurst | A wooded Hill (Saxon) |
| Ing | At the end of the place name it means “the people of” |
| Inga | In the middle of a place name it means “belonging to”. Nottingham = Snott inga ham = The village belonging to Snotta |
| Kirk | Church (Scandanavian) |
| Ley, Leigh, Ly | Wood or clearing in a wood |
| Mere, More | Pond or Lake |
| Pen | Head |
| Prest | Priest |
| Rith | The scandanavian word for little stream. Penrith (Head of the little stream) |
| Sex | Ending to state “land of Saxons”. Sussex (South Saxons Land), Essex (East) etc |
| Sted, Stedding, Stead | Literally means Place. West Grinstead (West Green Place) |
| Stoke | Means Hamlet (usually which depended on a larger settlement nearby.) |
| Stour | Strong (River with a strong Flow) |
| Stowe, Stow | Meeting Place |
| Sutton | From Sud Tun meaning South Farm |
| Umbria, Umbra | Dark Land or Land of Shadow. Northumberland |
| Thorpe | Means Hamlet which depended on a larger settlement nearby – Danish origin. Thorpe Park |
| Thwaite | A Scandinavian word for clearing. |
| Toft | A Scandinavian word for house. |
| Tun, Ton, | Farm or hamlet. Taunton – Hamlet on the Tone |
| Wald, Wold, Weald | A Forest (Saxon) |
| Whitchurch | White Church (Usually as made with white stone) |
| Wick or wich | Roman for in the vicinity of (vicus). Wickham – in the vicinity of a village. Wickford. It could also mean either trading place (Norwich, Greenwich) or a name for a specialised farm if at the end: Gatwick – Goat Farm |
| Worth | Timber Enclosure or enclosed settlement. |