Have you ever wondered where the name of a place has come from? Prior to the 15th Century, the majority of English place names referred to the land ownership or were based on features of the location or landscape.
This can be useful to a surveyor or anyone with an interest in a specific location. For instance, a place name that means lake, river or stream, might indicate that buildings could be more likely to flood.
The naming of these places date back to the Celts, Romans, Vikings, Angles and Saxons as well as the French of the new Norman Invaders of England.
Over 1,500 place names in England reputedly 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.
Examples of the common roots and components of place names in the UK include:
| Avon | ‘River’ in Celtic |
| Beck | The Scandinavian word for stream is Bekkr |
| Bury, Borough | A fortified place or settlement, such as Congresbury |
| By | Village – usually at the end of the word – Derby, Corby or Coningsby |
| Caster, Chester, Cester | A Roman fort or settlement – 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 | Promontory or Peninsular – Withernsea, Pevensey, Romney |
| Farn | Anglicisation of Fern – Farnborough, Farnley |
| Field | Feld means open land or 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 (once known as Snottingham) is derived from ‘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 Scandinavian word for little stream – Penrith (head of the little stream) |
| Sex | Ending that means ‘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 that depended on a larger settlement nearby (Danish origin) – Thorpe Park |
| Thwaite | Scandinavian word for clearing |
| Toft | 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 means ‘in the vicinity of a village’.
It could also mean either a trading place (Norwich, Greenwich) or, if at the end of a name, a specialised farm: Gatwick – Goat Farm |
| Worth | Timber enclosure or enclosed settlement. |