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List Of Generic Forms In British Place NamesThe study of place names is called toponymy; for a more detailed examination of this subject in relation to British place names please refer to British toponymy. This list gives a number of common generic forms found in British place names. It is not uncommon to find a number of them in combinative compounds. An interesting example of place naming is Torpenhow (pronounced tra-PENner) Hill, in Cumbria; the name seems to have grown by waves of new inhabitants each taking over the name given by the previous occupants, and adding to it: the three syllables, tor, pen, how, each mean "hill" in a different language. Factors like changes in spelling over the years, shifts of meaning, and other ambiguities may further complicate the issue. For example, in places where the Danelaw prevailed and where there is uncertainty over the origin of a place name, it is common sense to prefer the Old Norse meaning to the Old English one; often, however, they are the same. Taking, for instance, Askrigg in Yorkshire, "a place where ash trees grew": while the first element is indubitably the Norse asc (pronounced "ask"), Danelaw ask- can easily well represent a "Norsification" of the Old English form sc (pronounced "ash"). Both asc and sc, in any case, mean "ash". Sometimes, however, it was a case of incomers changing a name to match their own pronunciation habits without reference to the original meaning. Thus Skipton, Yorkshire, had it not been for settlement of the area by Norse speakers, would have come down to us as "Shipton" (Old English scip(e)tun - "sheep farm"). The Old Norse word for "sheep" was quite different (it produced the name Faroes - the "sheep islands"), so the new settlers were not translating the name, but simply reflecting the way the English "sh-" sound regularly corresponded to Norse "sk-" in words which were cognate (as we already saw with asc and sc). The terms "Old English" and "Anglo-Saxon" are fundamentally equivalent in meaning and represent the hybrid West Germanic language in use between the Roman abandonment of Britain and up to about 100 years after the Norman invasion of 1066. Note that in comparison to Old English and Old Norse place names, those in the Celtic languages (Cornish, Welsh, etc.) are almost always composed in reverse order, e.g. Tregonebris is tre + Conebris i.e. "the settlement of Cunebris". This is not true, however, of the very oldest Celtic names: e.g. Malvern, from elements represented by Modern Welsh "Moelfryn" (moel + bryn - "bald hill"). Key to languages: K - Cornish; L - Latin; NF - Norman French; OE - Old English; ON - Old Norse; P - Pictish; SG - Scots Gaelic; W - Welsh British Place Names | Term | Origin | Meaning | Example | Position | Comments | | aber | W,P,K | mouth (of a river), confluence, a meeting of waters | Aberystwyth, Aberdyfi, Aberdeen | prefix | | | ac, acc | OE | acorn, alt. association with oak | Accrington, Acomb | | | | afon | W,SG,K | river | Aberafon | | afon is pronounced "AH-von"; a number of UK rivers are named "Avon" | | axe, exe | W | from isca, meaning water | Exeter, River Axe, Devon, River Axe, Somerset, River Exe, River Usk, Axminster, Axbridge, Axmouth, etc. | | | | ay, ey | ON | island | Ramsay, Lundy, Orkney Islands | suffix (usually) | | | beck | ON | stream | Holbeck, Beckinsale, Costa Beck, Cod Beck | | | | bex | OE | box, the tree | Bexley, Bexhill-on-Sea (the OE name of Bexhill-on-Sea was Bexelei, a glade where box grew) | | | | bourne | OE | brook, stream | Bournemouth, Sittingbourne, Eastbourne | | | | bre | W | hill | Bredon | prefix | | | bury | OE | stronghold, fort | Aylesbury, Banbury | suffix | | | by | ON | settlement, village | Grimsby | suffix | | | canter | OE | men of Kent (Cantware) | Canterbury | | the element "cant" is itself from the Romano-British Cantiaci, the people of the region | | carden | P | thicket | Kincardine, Cardenden | suffix | | | caster, cester, chester, caer | OE, W ( | camp, fortification | Lancaster, Doncaster, Gloucester, Caister, Caerdydd, Caerleon, Manchester | suffix (caer is a prefix) | the "-ster" sometimes simplified to "-ter", e.g. Exeter, Uttoxeter | | | cheap, chipping | OE | market | Chipping Norton, Chipping Campden, Chippenham | | also as part of a street name, e.g. Cheapside | | cwm | W | valley | Cwmbran | prefix | | | dale | ON | valley | Airedale, the valley of the river Aire | suffix | | | deanas | OE | valley | Croydon, Dean Village | suffix | the geography is often the only indicator as to the original root word (cf. don, a hill) | | don | OE | hill | Bredon | suffix | | | dun | SG | fort | Dundee | prefix | | | fax | OE, V | fair, pale | Halifax | | | | field | OE | a forest clearing | Sheffield, Wakefield | suffix | | | fin | P | hill (?) | Findochty | prefix | possibly related to pen | | glen | SG | valley | Rutherglen | | | | ham | OE | settlement, town | Oldham | suffix | often confused by hamm, an enclosure | | hurst | OE | wooded hill | Dewhurst | | | | ing | OE ingas | descendants or followers of | Reading i.e. the subjects of Reada | suffix | sometimes survives in an apparent plural form e.g. Hastings; also, often combined with 'ham' (see above) e.g. Birmingham, Cottingham, Immingham | | inver | SG | mouth of (a river), confluence, a meeting of waters | Inverness | prefix | | | kin | SG | head | Kincardine | prefix | | | king | OE Cyning | king, tribal leader | King's Norton, Kingston, Kingston Bagpuize | | | | lan, lhan, llan | K, P, W | church, church-site | Llanteglos, Cornwall, Lhanbryde, Moray, Llanfair PG | prefix | | | law | OE | from hlaw, a rounded hill | Charlaw, Warden Law, Lewes | (usually) standalone | often a hill with a barrow or hillocks on its summit | | lea, ley | OE | from leah, a woodland clearing | Wembley | (usually) suffix | | | magna | L | great | Appleby Magna | | | | mon | P | ? | Moniave | prefix | | | nan, nans | K | valley | Nancledra, Cornwall | prefix | | | nant | W | stream | Nantgarw | prefix | | | ness | OE, V | promontory, headland | Sheerness | suffix | | | parva | L | little | Appleby Parva | | | | pen | K, W, OE | hill | Penzance | prefix | | | pit | P | farm | Pitlochry, Perthshire | prefix | | | pol | K | pool or lake | Polperro, Cornwall | prefix | | | pont | L, K, W | bridge | Pontypridd | prefix | can also be found in its mutated form "bont", e.g, Pen-y-bont (Bridgend); originally from Latin pons | | shaw | V | a wood; a corruption of howe (cf.) | Penshaw | standalone or suffix | | | stoke | OE stoc | dependent farmstead, settlement | Stoke-on-Trent, Stoke Damerell | (Usually) standalone | | | strath | P | valley | Strathmore, Angus | prefix | | | thorp, thorpe | ON | village, settlement | Cleethorpes, Thorpeness | | | | thwaite | ON thveit | a forest clearing with a dwelling | Huthwaite | suffix | | | tre | K, W | settlement | Trevose Head | prefix | | | tilly | SG | hill | Tillicoultry, Tillydrone | prefix | | | tun, ton | OE, ON tun | enclosure, farmstead, manor, estate | Tunstead, Tonbridge i.e. the bridge of the estate; Charlton (AS: ceorla-tun, "farmstead of the churls") | | | See also External links and references - http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/institutes/sassi/spns/index.htm - The Scottish Place-Name Society
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