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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
 
Lyneham
     l derived from el - person
yne derived from ynne - onion
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.
Randwick
     rand derived from rand - a brink, edge, margin, shore
wick derived from vicus - small provincial roman town
Sandtun
     sand derived from sand - sand
tun derived from tun - a mountain or hill
West Hythe
     west derived from wæst - west
hythe derived from hyð - hythe - usually a harbour or port, an important or first one, or starting point
Cheriton
     cher derived from cer - a turn
i derived from iw - yew
ton derived from tun - a settlement on a hill
St
     st derived from sanctus - saint
Ida Strand
     i derived from iw - yew
da derived from doe - female deer
strand derived from strand - shore or side
Licoln
     l derived from el - person
i derived from iw - yew
coln derived from coln - a pebble or stone
Kirkstall
     kirk derived from kirkja - church
st derived from sanctus - saint
all derived from ellen/alr/aler - elder tree
Burley
     bur derived from beorg - a high place - a hill
ley derived from æg/leah - an island near the sea / woodland clearing if inland
Catford
     cat derived from cattes - cat mint
ford derived from forda - shallow place where a river can be crossed
Ebony
     ebony derived from ebba en æg - people of the ebb and flow/tidal island
Burrows Mump
     burrow derived from burh hleow - the fortress refuge
s derived from s - of as in 's(belongs to) or multiple
mump derived from munt - a mountain or mound
Lyng
     l derived from el - person
yng derived from ænge - troubled village(appear to be fortlets or pallisaded villages)
Eridge
     eridge derived from ern hrycg - eagle ridge
Vines
     vine derived from win - a vine - originally latin vinum
s derived from s - of as in 's(belongs to) or multiple
Upper
     upper derived from upper - higher than
Normans
     nor derived from norþ - north
mans derived from mann - man
Forest
     forest derived from forest - an area for royal hunting
Little
     little derived from lytel - little, small
 

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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