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Origination of my Village/Town name

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Toponymy is the study of place names (toponyms), their origins, meanings, use, and typology.

Toponym is the general name for any place or geographical entity. Related, more specific types of toponym include hydronym for a body of water and oronym for a mountain or hill.
A toponymist is one who studies toponymy, see the article on Wikipedia

The majority of Saxon words are taken from 'A Dictionary of the Anglo-Saxon language by Rev J Bosworth(1838)' available from Google Books and now online at www.bosworthtoller.com (a massive achievement).

We are going to try to translate the current village/town name that you enter into a description of the location using my database of common historic name snippets.
If this fails for you please check the Open Domesday book to see if your location name has changed since 1086.

 
From our research it would seem that the saxon village names describe the location and are rarely family name derived. If you would like to use our translations on your website please click here for instructions.

Your Location


In the Anglo Saxon language there are a number of runic characters used in texts and in our translations these are:-
  Eth Ð(upper Case) ð(lower case) Pronounced th as in then
  Thorn Þ(upper case) þ(lower case) Pronounced th as in thin
  Ash Æ(upper case) æ(lower case) Pronounced ea as in clean
  Wynn Ƿ(upper case) ƿ(lower case) Pronounced as w
  Yogh Ȝ(upper case) ȝ(lower case) Pronounced gh as in night
 

To see the place name snippets please click on the [Place names] tab and choose any one of the snippet selections.

The last 20 translations requested
 
Maids Moreton
     maid derived from mæd - a meadow
s derived from s - of as in 's(belongs to) or multiple
moreton derived from morteyne - a norman knight from the battle abbey role 1066AD
Melton Constable
     mel derived from melu - meal, flour
ton derived from tun - a settlement on a hill
constable derived from conestable - a norman knight from the battle role 1066AD
Spalding
     spald derived from speld - a thin wooden torch
ing derived from ænge - troubled village(appear to be fortlets or pallisaded villages)
Cromer
     cro derived from croh/craw/crog - crocus/a crow/a small bottle - amphora
mer derived from mære - sea or lake (large body of water)
Caister
     caister derived from cæster - roman fortified town- from latin castrum
St Johns
     st john derived from sanctus john - saint john
s derived from s - of as in 's(belongs to) or multiple
Lillingstone Dayrell
     lill derived from læl - a pliant twig, withe
ing derived from ænge - troubled village(appear to be fortlets or pallisaded villages)
stone derived from stan - stone - probably a roman road, milestone or builders stone
dayrell derived from Darel - a norman knight from the battle role 1066AD
Molash
     mol derived from mæl - speech - place for speaking
ash derived from æsc - ash trees
Brown Bread Street
     brown bread street derived from baran brod streat - carry plank street
Bamburgh
     bam derived from bebben - bebba's
burgh derived from beorg - a high place - hill
Bamborough
     bam derived from bebben - bebba's
borough derived from burh - from Roman Burgus a roman signalling place or one of Alfred the Great's fortifications
Brown Bread
     brown derived from brun/baran - colour produced by burning/or to carry
bread derived from bred - board or plank
Cowbeech
     cow derived from ge-cow - something chewed
beech derived from baece - beech trees
Little Common
     little derived from lytel - little, small
common derived from common - common land
Pebsham
     pebs derived from petit - small
ham derived from hamm - Denotes a piece of land surrounded with paling, wicker-work, etc., and so defended against water, which would otherwise wash it away, so a valley settlement or settlement with a jetty.
Ewshot
     ew derived from euwa - a sheep
shot derived from sprot - a course kind of rush
Crookham
     crook derived from crycc - a crook or staff
ham derived from hamm - Denotes a piece of land surrounded with paling, wicker-work, etc., and so defended against water, which would otherwise wash it away, so a valley settlement or settlement with a jetty.
Potterspury
     potter derived from pott-ere - a potter
s derived from s - of as in 's(belongs to) or multiple
pury derived from burh/beorg/berie - fortified place, castle - usually associated with old Roman forts / can also be used to mean high place / berry
Datchet
     datch derived from þæc - roof covering(possibly reeds - thatch)
et derived from æg - æg - an island also eye, ye, sea
Henton
     hen derived from hen - old
ton derived from tun - a settlement on a hill
 

External References in no particular order :-
Anglo Saxon Chronicles
Online Anglo Saxon dictionary
Online Etymology dictionary
Open Domesday Book - The first free online copy of the Domesday Book
The Ermine Street Guard Roman re-enactment and research Society
The "Kent A" cadastre - page 5 - Peterson 2002
Archaeologia Cantiana Online
Romney Marsh Research Trust
Romney Marsh the Fifth Continent
VillageNet the reference guide to villages in Kent & Sussex
Global warming Flood Maps
The Anglo Saxon Chronicles
Google Maps - the core of the system
GeoPlaner - Useful site for plotting map data
Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars 55BC(Books 4 & 5)
Wikipedia - Caesar's invasions of Britain
Wikipedia - Portus Istus
The Geography of Claudius Ptolemy (Bill Thayers)
Roman Britain.org
Runetree Beowulf
Bayeux Tapestry Online
The Secrets of the Norman Invasion
Chronicles of John of Worcester
Battle Historic Society
Binsted village website(Mearcredesburnan Steðe)
The Spears of Andred
Find British Archaelogical Sites
Wealden Iron Research Group
Topographic Map of the UK
 

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Author Simon M - Last updated - 26/01/2024 07:31
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