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List of generic forms in British place names

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The 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-PEN-ner") 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 æsc (pronounced "ash"). Both asc and æsc, in any case, mean 'ash' (tree).

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, North 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 æsc).

Spellings can be misleading - for example Croydon is in a valley and Willesden is on a hill. Their expected spellings might therefore be "Croyden" and "Willesdon".

One problematic element is the Old English -ey, as in "Romsey". This commonly means "island", including "island in marsh". However, it can have other meanings, so for example in "Hornsey" -ey means "enclosure". The elements wich and wick can have a variety of meanings, often connected with industry or commerce. Some of the sites are of Roman origin. On the coast, wick is very often of Norse origin, meaning "bay" or "inlet".

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 of all Celtic names: e.g. Malvern, from elements represented by Modern Welsh "Moelfryn" (moel + bryn - "bald hill").

Elements

Key to languages: K - Cornish; I - Irish; L - Latin; ME - Middle English; NF - Norman; OE - Old English; ON - Old Norse; P - Pictish; SG - Scots Gaelic; W - Welsh

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, or oak tree Accrington, Acomb, Acton
afon W, SG, K river River Avon, Glanyrafon W afon is pronounced "AH-von"; several English rivers are named Avon
ar,ard I, SG height Armagh,Ardglass
ash OE ash tree Ashton-under-Lyne
ast OE east Aston prefix
auch(en)-, ach- I, SG Field Auchendinny, Auchenshuggle, Achnasheen Prefix Derived from achadh. Ach- is generally the Highland form, and Auch- the lowland. Auchen- "means field of the X" (Achadh nan X)
Auchter- I, SG Height, Top of something Auchtermuchty Prefix Derived from Uachdar
axe, exe ? from isca, meaning water Exeter, River Axe (Devon), River Axe (Somerset), River Exe, River Usk, Axminster, Axbridge, Axmouth, etc.
ay, ey ON island Ramsay, Westray, Lundy, Orkney suffix (usually)
bal, balla SG town Ballachulish, Balerno prefix derived from baile
bally, ball I town Ballymena, Ballinamallard prefix
beck OE,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)
bost SG ( farm Leurbost suffix Same as -bster, this form is usually found in the Outer Hebrides
bourne OE brook, stream Bournemouth, Sittingbourne, Eastbourne, Ashbourne see also Bourne (placename)
brad OE broad Bradford prefix
bre W, K hill Bredon, Carn Brea prefix
burn OE stream Crawfordsburn, Bannockburn, Blackburn suffix
bury OE fortified enclosure Aylesbury, Banbury, Dewsbury, Bury (usually) suffix
by ON settlement, village Grimsby, Tenby usually suffix but compare Bicker (the town marsh) also survives in bylaw and by-election
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, chester, cester, ceter OE ( camp, fortification Lancaster, Doncaster, Gloucester, Caister, Manchester, Winchester suffix
caer, car W ( camp, fortification Caerdydd, Caerleon, Carlisle prefix derived from Brytonic "caer" cf Chester/Caster
cheap, chipping OE market Chipping Norton, Chipping Campden, Chippenham also as part of a street name, e.g. Cheapside
combe OE ( valley Woolacombe (Devon), Doccombe, Ilfracombe usually pronounced 'coo-m' or 'cum', cognate with cwm
cot, cott OE cottage, small building Ascot, Draycott in the Clay, Swadlincote suffix
cwm W valley Cwmaman prefix Borrowed into old English as suffix "coombe"
dal- SG, I meadow, low lying area by river Dalry, Dalmellington prefix Cognate with and probably influenced by P Dol
dale OE/ME valley OE
allotment OE 		Airedale, valley of the river Aire
Rochdale, valley of the River Roch
Billinghay Dales, Saxondale 		suffix
deanas OE valley Croydon, Dean Village, Horndean, Todmorden suffix the geography is often the only indicator as to the original root word (cf. don, a hill)
don OE hill Bredon suffix
Drum SG, I Ridge, Back Drumchapel, Drumnacanvy, Drumnadrochit prefix derived from druim
dun, dum SG, I fort Dundee, Dumbarton, Dungannon prefix derived from dùn
fax OE, ON fair, pale Halifax
field OE a forest clearing Sheffield, Wakefield, Huddersfield suffix
fin P hill (?) Findochty prefix possibly related to pen
firth OE wood or woodland Holmfirth suffix
firth ON Fjord, inlet Burrafirth (Firth of Forth etc) suffix, prefix from Norse fjorðr
glen SG, I valley Rutherglen, Glenarm derived from gleann
ham OE farm Oldham suffix often confused by hamm, an enclosure
hithe, hythe OE wharf, place for landing boats Rotherhithe, Hythe, Erith
hope OE valley, enclosed area Woolhope, Glossop
hurst OE wooded hill Dewhurst
ing OE ingas people of Reading, the people (followers) of Reada,
Woldingham, the homestead of the people of the wold
Quadring, the people of the mud 		suffix sometimes survives in an apparent plural form e.g. Hastings; also, often combined with 'ham' or 'ton' (see above and below) e.g. Birmingham, Cottingham, Bridlington
inver SG mouth of (a river), confluence, a meeting of waters Inverness prefix
keld ON spring Keld, Threlkeld
kil SG, I Monastic cell, old church Kilmarnock, Killead prefix derived from Cill
kin SG, I head Kincardine, Kinallen prefix derived from Ceann
king OE Cyning king, tribal leader King's Norton, King's Lynn, Kingston, Kingston Bagpuize, Coningsby
kirk ON church Kirkwall, Ormskirk
kyle SG narrows Kyle of Lochalsh prefix derived from Caol
lan, lhan, llan K, P, W churchyard (church, church-site) Llanteglos (Cornwall), Lhanbryde (Moray), Llanfair PG prefix
lang OE long Langdale, Langton, Kings Langley prefix
law, low OE from hlaw, a rounded hill Charlaw, Warden Law, Lewes, Ludlow (usually) standalone often a hill with a barrow or hillocks on its summit
lea, ley, leigh OE from leah, a woodland clearing Wembley, Hadleigh, Leigh (usually) suffix
magna L great Appleby Magna,Chew Magna, Wigston Magna
mere OE lake, pool Windermere, Grasmere, Cromer
minster OE large church, monastery Westminster, Wimborne Minster
mon P ? Moniaive prefix
nan, nans K valley Nancledra (Cornwall) prefix
nant W ravine or the stream in it Nantgarw, Nantwich prefix same origin as nan, nans above
ness OE, ON nose (promontory, headland) Sheerness, Skegness, Orford Ness, Furness suffix
nor OE north Norton, Norbury, Norwich prefix
parva L little Appleby Parva, Wigston Parva
pen K, W head (headland or hill) Penzance prefix also Pedn in W. Cornwall
pit P portion, share, farm Pitlochry (Perthshire), Pitmedden, Pittodrie prefix homologous with K peath
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
pyll K, W deep water amongst shallow Marple (division pyll) formerly on the boundary between Cheshire and Derbyshire. Confluence of river Etherow with river Goyt suffix often found in the mutated form ple. Found in places of late Brythonic influence.
shaw ON a wood; cognate to Scandinavian skog Penshaw standalone or suffix a fringe of woodland
stan OE stone, stony Stanmore, Stamford, Stanlow prefix
stead OE place, enclosed pasture Hampstead, Berkhamsted suffix
ster, bster ON farm Lybster, Scrabster suffix Same as -bost from (bol)staðr
stoke OE stoc dependent farmstead, secondary settlement Stoke-on-Trent, Stoke Damerell (usually) standalone
strath SG Wide tiver valley Strathmore (Angus) prefix derived from srath (but conflated with Brythonic "Ystrad")
sud, sut OE south Sudbury, Sutton prefix
swin OE pigs, swine Swinton, Swinford (Leicestershire)
thorp, thorpe ON secondary settlement Cleethorpes, Thorpeness an outlier of an earlier settlement
thwaite ON thveit a forest clearing with a dwelling, or parcel of land Huthwaite, Twatt suffix
tre K, W settlement Trevose Head, Tregaron prefix
tilly SG hill Tillicoultry, Tillydrone prefix
toft ON homestead Lowestoft usually suffix
tun, ton OE, ON tun an enclosure, (farmyard, estate) Tunstead, Tonbridge i.e. the bridge of the estate; Charlton (AS: ceorla-tun, "farmstead of the churls"), Coniston AS pronunciation 'toon'. Compare (en) town, (nl) tuin, garden & (de) Zaun, fence.
worth, worthy, wardine OE enclosure Tamworth, Farnworth, Holsworthy, Bredwardine usually suffix

See also

External links



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