By Linus Joseph Dewald Jr., Editor
Fall 2001 and Revised 21 May 2004
We found an interest explanation by Peter D. Chilvers on the Essex Co., England mailing list (Essex-UK-L.rootsweb.com) as to the meaning of some of the suffixes used in the designation of places in England. Some of those same terms were also prefixes, while others were combined to become more descriptive of a location (Felsted, in Essex County, England is likely a combination of "Fell" and "Stead." For that meaning, see the terms below).
Not surprisingly, many of those place names were carried to, and used in, colonial America by former residents of those places in England.
Roman Terms: 50 BC - 410 AD Caster: Fort; Camp; Later town Cester: Fort; Camp; Later town Chester: Fort; Camp; Later town Fos (s): Ditch Port: Harbour; Gate Street: Paved way Celtic Terms: 800 BC - 400 AD Aber: River mouth or ford Afon: River Allt: Hillside Avon; Esk; Eye; Dee: River Bedd: Grave Bre-; Drum; Don: Hill Caer: Fortress Capel: Chapel Carnedd: Cairn Castell: Castle Coed: Wood Cwm: Valley Dinas: City Glan: River Bank Hamps: Dry stream in Summer Llan: Church Llyn: Lake Mawr: Big Môr: Sea Mynydd: Mountain Pant: Hollow Pen; Bryn: Hill; Head Plas: Palace Pont; Bont: Bridge Porth: Harbour Tre: Hamlet; Village; Town Treath: Beach Ynys: Island Saxon Terms: 350 AD - 1000 AD Bourne: Stream Burn: Stream Burg: Large village Croft: Small enclosure Cot: Small hut Delph: Ditch, dyke or stream Den(n): Pig pasture Eg; Ey; Ea; Eig: Island Fall: Area cleared of trees Fen: Fen Field: Field Ham: Village Hurst: According to 'Dictionary of Place-Names in the British Isles' by Adrian Room, 'hurst' meant 'hillock or wooded hill' and came from the Anglo-Saxon (Old English) 'hyrst'. He says that it is particularly common in Surrey and Sussex. Hurstpierpoint, now in West Sussex, was just Hurst until after the Norman Conquest. It was still called 'Herst' in the Domesday Book. But Pierpoint was added when Robert de Pierpoint became lord of the manor late in the eleventh century. Ing: People Lake: Lake Ley; Lea: Clearing Mere: Pool Moor: Moor Moss: Swamp Riding; Rod: Cleared land Stead: place Stoc: Summer pasture Stoke: 'Daughter' settlement Stow: Holy Place Ton; Tun: House; Farm Weald; Wold; High Woodland Wic; Wike: Farm; Group of huts Wood: Wood Worth: Fenced land Worthy: Enclosed land Viking Terms: 750 AD - 1100 AD Akr: Acre Beck: Stream Booth: Summer pasture By: Farm; Village Ey: Island Fell; How: Hill or mound Fiord: Fiord Fiskr: Fish Gardr: Yard; landing place Garth: Enclosure Gate: Road Geit: Goat Gill: Ravine or valley Holm(r): Island Hus: House Ings: Marsh; meadow Kald: Cold Kelda: Spring, stream Kirk: Church Laithe: Barn Lin: Flax Lund: Grove Melr: Sandbank Orme: Serpent Pollr: Pool Skar: Cleft Sker: Rock Slack: Stream in a valley Stakkr: Rock in the sea Stan: Stone Stokkr: Sound Tarn: Lake Thorp: Daughter settlement Thwaite: Forest clearing; meadow Toft: Homestead Wath: Ford Wray: Remote place
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