The British town Bristol was … The case is slightly more ambiguous for natural features, depending on how exactly 'place' is defined, and what exactly the concept of a 'place' is used for. Roman occupation of England left a lasting reminder that can still be seen in place names. Countries which have seen repeated large-scale cultural and/or linguistic changes, such as England or France, tend to have more broken down place names, as the original meaning is forgotten and drifts more quickly. That notwithstanding, it is probable that the origins of the names of both settlements and natural features is the same, namely to distinguish one from another; and thus that both should be considered place names. Chester - 'Deva', Winchester - 'Venta Belgarum' etc.). The use of (- ham) in a place name is a clear piece of evidence to suggest Anglo-Saxon involvement in its evolution. Cambridge, perhaps uniquely, illustrates both effects: originally Grontabricc, a bridge on the Granta, the name became Cantebruge and then Cambrugge, from which the river was renamed Cam. Many topographic elements become incorporated into settlement names, together with plant, creature names or personal names. Many experts believe that Londinium is a Romanized name and its name has its true origins in the language of the Ancient Britons. BELCHER English From a Middle English version of Old French bel chiere meaning "beautiful face". Originally, This page was last edited on 21 December 2020, at 13:17. In Shropshire and Herefordshire many Welsh place names are found in the borderlands such as Pontrilas and Trefonen. Invasion from the Germanic Tribes has made a lasting impression on the landscape of England. Words from nature whether mineral, water, plants, animals, or mixed forms. Beverley in East Yorkshire was named due to the Beavers that once resided along the banks of the river. Bacillus botulinum was later placed in the genus Clostridium (from Greek kloster meaning spindle), while some debate still existed over the basis for the species name. The use of (-ham) in a place name is a clear piece of evidence to suggest Anglo-Saxon involvement in its evolution. Each country is divided into a number of counties. Man-made landscape features that have been given names include roads and trackways as well as burial mounds, etc. The notion of "amateurish" led to the sense of "amateur radio operator" (1919). [20] (see List of counties in Michigan.) The historic market town of Stamford (Stone-crossing) is a surviving Anglo-Saxon settlement. In some cases these are in fact related to their Welsh name, but disguised through linguistic processes of mutation, for example Monmouth and the Welsh Trefynwy both referring to the River Monnow (Mon- < Monnow < Mynwy > -fynwy). England had been already ruled by a Danish King in Canute. Other terms relate to the expansion of farming. Along the south coast of Wales, where English has historically been more widely spoken, many place names are commonly anglicized, such as Pontypool, derived from Pont-y-Pŵl. However, often the name may be recycled and altered in some way. In a two-element name, we call the first part the 'prefix' and thesecond part the 'suffix'. Specific (personal or animal) names and general words or phrases are used, sometimes translated and sometimes not. Other experts have argued that once the Viking language became the main language of the region, place names would naturally be named using Viking words. There are identifiable processes which occur over time to place names, and which alter the place names in such a way that their original meanings are lost. Toponymy divides place-names into two broad categories: habitation names and feature names. [21]. In contrast, in the "New World" (roughly North America, South America, and Australasia), many place names' origins are known. However, some apparent meanings may be deceptive; New York was not directly named after the English city of York but after the Duke of York, who was the head of the British Navy at the time of the British take-over, and Los Angeles was not named after angels but after the Virgin Mary, or the Queen of the Angels (El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles). In the Highlands, the names are primarily in Scottish Gaelic, with emphasis on natural features; elements such as Glen- (valley) and Inver- (confluence, mouth) are common. From the portrait of Alexander Hamilton featured on them.. Noun []. A famous bearer is retired English soccer player David Beckham (1975-). If so, why combine the two into a place name like Southampton or Northampton? 18th and 19th century armchair historians, geographers and linguists wrote countless books to explain the etymology of place names. Amsterdam ('River Amstel dam'), Liechtenstein ('Light-stone'), Copenhagen ('Merchants' harbour), Paris ('Home of the Parisii'), Shanghai (approximately 'Seaport'), Tashkent ('Stone city'). Massachusetts has the most, with at least 104 English names for cities, towns and counties, starting with Amesbury and ending with Yarmouth. Typically, this will be in one of the above ways; as the meaning of place-name is forgotten, it becomes changed to a name suitable for the new language. On the last available year for each country, we count 0 birth. BELANGER English From the given name BERENGAR. In the islands of Scotland, particularly Orkney and Shetland, but also the Western Isles, there are many names of Norse origin; this is also true of the coasts of the mainland. In this time period, the Anglo Saxon inhabitants were joined by Scandinavian settlers and they lived under the rule of their Norse neighbours. William The Conqueror army was only 33% Norman + 33% French + 33% Welsh speaking Bretons. However, as names are applied on a larger scale, they may become less useful as place names. The “ham” suffix in a place name is widely accepted to mean “home” or “settlement” from an etymological point of view, although it can also be interpreted as meaning “town” in a … In the north and east, there are many place names of Norse origin; similarly, these contain many personal names. Most English place-names are made up of two elements (though some are threeor more). save. Version Française disponible ici Prénom Ham Additionally, the Anglo-Saxons used tree names in conjunction with ‘ley’, which means wood or clearing. Old Norse Origin Place Names Home » Names. The Maori named most of New Zealand's natural features. Scunthorpe translates as either Scun's farm or Scun's land. The Old English ham which means variously "homestead, village, manor, estate" (Mills, p. 381) and hamm which means "enclosure, land hemmed by water or marsh or higher ground, land in a river­bend, river­meadow, promontory" (Mills, p. 381) both appear as ­ham in modern names. Many topographical words convey not just an image of the place but also a wealth of information about the likely size, status and pattern of farming practised by the community living there.[10]. It is also possible to distinguish regional trends and differences in the naming of places, as is also discussed below. Many other types of place name can be defined, for example those relating to tribal or personal names. At its most severe, the name may be completely replaced. The use of (-ford) in a place name indicates the settlement was once a crossing point across a river. Origins of Place Names. The capital city. Examples include Oakley, Ashley, Thornley and Willey. English: topographic name from Old English hamm, denoting a patch of flat, low-lying alluvial land beside a stream (often a promontory or water meadow in a river bend), or a habitational name from any of numerous places named with this word, for example in Gloucestershire, Greater London, Kent, Somerset, and Wiltshire. The use of (-ton) in a place name harks back to a time on enclosed settlements. Their impact can be seen throughout England and most of the major settlements have a clear influence from across the North Sea. Similarly, Negaunee, Michigan's name is derived from the Ojibwe word nigani meaning foremost, in advance, leading, which was determined to be the closest Ojibwe approximation to the English word pioneer. Other cities and towns with a similar heritage are Bradford, Thetford and Sleaford. Etymology can be a game of probabilities. ham (v.) "over-act in performance," 1933, from ham (n.2). The scholars of Oxford renamed the upper course of the River Thames running through Oxford to Dorchester-on-Thames as the "Isis", owing to an incorrect assumption that the Latin name of the river, Tamesis, represented a combination of "Thame" (a river that joins the Thames at Dorchester) and "Isis". Australian place names are mainly a mixture of aboriginal and British-derived toponyms. In some cases the native meanings of a place name are wholly lost, despite guesses and theories, for example Tampa and Oregon. Personal names of individuals, groups, or deities. Acton Acton comes from ac tun meaning oak farm or village. It does not claim to be exact; etymology is not an accurate science. There are also aboriginal place names. Maine has 32, Vermont 36. Often the Roman name for their settlements had become absorbed and adapted by successive invaders. Sometimes a generic word was adopted as a specific label, for example the Celtic word for river was afon which is used in many cases as the name (Avon) of rivers in England. Finally, we come to the use of (-ing). For a discussion of the scientific study of place names, see, The examples and perspective in this article, Place name origins in Britain and Ireland, Learn how and when to remove these template messages, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Toponymy in the United Kingdom and Ireland, List of generic forms in place names in the United Kingdom and Ireland, Etymological list of counties of the United Kingdom, List of Australian place names of Aboriginal origin, List of reduplicated Australian place names, "What's in a Name? Modern London has changed drastically since the time of Roman Londinium. HAM. These basic elements can also be found in place names in other countries; e.g. Glad you found it interesting. If you have the name of an Irish placename, it is often possible to work out its origins. 5 5. comments. With every successive immigration, we find a different way to describe the land. In Cornwall most place-names are Cornish in origin, whilst in Cumbria there remain a number of place names in Cumbric, the Brythonic language of this region; examples including Carlisle, Helvellyn and Blencathra. Ham meant village or estate. Any place which has caistor or chester in their name usually denotes a settlement with a direct link to the Roman Military encampments. Related: Hammed; hamming. If you know the meaning of a place name that is not here, you are encouraged to submit it. There is a high level of personal names within the place names, presumably the names of local landowners at the time of naming. Note: at this point this site's collection is quite small and somewhat uneven. This article is about the origins of place names themselves. Places such as Luton, Bolton, Accrington, Malton and Stilton are towns that grew under the Anglo-Saxons. The area that incorporates Yorkshire, East Anglia, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire show heavy Viking settlement in their place names, this is due to the existence of the Danelaw between the ninth and eleventh century. Many others are of French origin, such as Detroit, Michigan, which was established along the banks of the river they called le détroit du lac Érié, meaning the strait of Lake Erie. Ham and ton are regularly combined in Anglo-Saxon names, and Northampton and Littehampton are prominent examples of this. Until the 1960s it was more commonly given to boys in the United States, but it is now most often used on girls. In the Anglo-Saxon language the word hamm meant water meadow. The use of (-ley) in a place name indicates that the settlement originates from a forest clearing. A good example is the London area of Hampstead which ties in the word components “ham”, meaning home, village, estate or farm, with “stead”, meaning place so that the full word means Home Place. Before the arrival of invaders and settlers across the sea, the Ancient Britons had already named many of the original settlements but they would give way to more modern sounding cities and towns. report. 2. Shem stands for the mindset that allows a worldview irrespective of the self. place (n.) c. 1200, "space, dimensional extent, room, area," from Old French place "place, spot" (12c.) Most English place-names are either Anglo-Saxon or Old Norse in origin but Celtic names are to be found over the whole country, most notably in Cornwall (see below) and counties bordering Wales. This is a list of place names in which the origin is Old Norse. Land characteristics were important to both hunters and farmers, and there are many terms relating to different types of hills and valleys. He has been on HubPages for many years. Topographical names were held in low esteem by early place name scholars but their importance was raised in a book by Margaret Gelling, first published in 1978. This is due to a general set of processes through which place names evolve over time, until their obvious meaning is lost. The Vikings were responsible for originating the names of many English towns and villages. 'farm', 'market', 'fort') or a prominent natural feature, or both; if only one of these is present, it is often modified by a personal name or an adjective. In The Danelaw, the prefix is often the name of theperson who held that settlement. By Tim Lambert. The byname Becca means "pickaxe" in Old English. It was a colony of the Danish leaders and it kept the Anglo-Saxon leaders on edge for many generations. Many are Gaelic, but many are also from the Brythonic branch of Celtic languages (such as Ayr). A good example of this is England's second city- Birmingham. There are several clearly definable types of place name, the primary division being between the names of natural features and the names of human settlements. Andrew Stewart (author) from England on January 29, 2018: Thanks Jorge, even my home city managed to make it across the Atlantic- Peterborough. … From an English surname that was originally derived from place names meaning "ash tree clearing", from a combination of Old English æsc and leah. In lowland Scotland, names are of more diverse origin. In general, the Anglo-Saxon and Norse place names tend to be rather mundane in origin, the most common types being [personal name + settlement/farm/place] or [type of farm + farm/settlement] (almost all towns ending in -wich, -ton, -ham, … The vast majority of place names in Wales are Welsh by origin, containing elements such as Llan-, Aber-, Pen- etc. Etymology 2 []. When you find (-ham) in a place name, it tells us that the settlement was once a village. ; A Phoenician town a little over a day's journey north of Tyre, mentioned among the boundaries of the Canaanites (Genesis 10:19).This town rose to prominence and began to oppress Israel (Judges 10:12). For example, Derby can be broken down to this basic explanation. Many place names are taken from the languages of native peoples. A great many names that appear to be Native American in origin were created by non-Natives with at best a rudimentary grasp of native languages. In general, the Anglo-Saxon and Norse place names tend to be rather mundane in origin, the most common types being [personal name + settlement/farm/place] or [type of farm + farm/settlement] (almost all towns ending in -wich, -ton, -ham, -by, -thorpe, -stoke/stock are of these types). Therefore was England truly conquered in 1066 by a foreign power? There is a high level of personal names within the place names, presumably the names of local landowners at the time of naming. See also: Norman Place Names in England Norman Place Names For instance, if a name no longer means anything in the modified language, it may drift towards a new form; e.g. The Book Of London Place Names, an excellent guide by Caroline Taggart; Map of Anglo Saxon London (by Londonist) What's In A Name?, a predictably named etymology … The Author of this hub is well read in history, having studied history at University in England. THE following Glossary contains the principal components of the place-names in the British Isles, and with its aid the derivation of many names may be ascertained, and something may be learned of the physical condition of various localities in early times. Various names have been used for the island of Britain, see Britain (name). Rotherham was the village by the Rother. hide. Previously names relating to pagan religion were extensively studied as these were thought to be early. 3. Roman Terms: 50BC - 410 AD. Some of the main problems are: The names of natural or man-made features in the landscape tend to be older than those of settlements since the former are often more widely known. Here are a few settlements with its translation. The vast majority of placenames in Ireland are anglicizations (adaptations to English phonology) of Irish language names. Although the origin of many place names is now forgotten, it is often possible to establish likely meanings through consideration of early forms of the name. Another class studied was those relating to particular people, example: the Ancient British. Many place names were shaped so long ago that nobody can be certain if any one explanation is correct. usage origin Close. That the latter are 'places' is obvious. 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