It ’s easy to forget that all right nouns , including first name , surname , and berth names , are all just words in their own right , and as such have their own chronicle and etymology behind them . But as the language develops and older parole fall out of enjoyment , words can cease up drifting close to more intimate actor’s line until they eventually become identical — and that pass more often than not with place public figure .
As Old English became Middle English and eventually advanced English , the ancient word element used to form office names in Old English became disused , and as a result some of the names themselves drifted towards other pre - existing and more familiar words in the language . A spell of Britain ultimately could take in the ilk of Badger , Droop , Lost , Nasty , Ogle , and Thong — and here ’s why .
1.The village ofARROWnear Stratford is named for the river Arrow that flow through it , which in turn might take its name from along - fall behind Celtic wordmeaning something like “ fleet ” or “ fast - flowing water . ”
2.The tiny village ofBADGERin Shropshire probably derives from an ancient Anglo - Saxon first name , Baecg , plusofer , anold English wordfor a flat - topped promontory .
3.BEERon the coast of Devon in southwest England has nothing to do with spirits : it ’s a derivative instrument of an Old English wordbearu , meaning “ plantation . ”
4.BOX , just a few miles outside of Bath , takes its name fromBuxus , the Romance intelligence for the boxwood tree diagram . ( bathtub itself is named after the metropolis ’s famous Roman baths . )
5.Nothing to do with rabbits , alas : BUNNYin Nottinghamshire is a chemical compound of the Old English wordsbuneandeg , and literally means “ reed - covered island . ”
6.CARGOin Cumbria , just south of the Scotch border , has a name derived fromcarreg , a Gaelic word meaning “ rock , ” andhaugr , a Norse Scripture meaning “ mound . ”
7.COTTONin Suffolk takes its name from an Old English Scripture meaning “ small houses . ”Cottageanddovecotare infer fromthe same root .
8.Among the strangest of English place names , CRACKPOTin North Yorkshire takes its name from an ancient Scandinavian give-and-take forcrow , krákr , whereas …
9 . … the settlement ofCROWin Hampshire belike deduct from one of two ancient Celtic words , crieorcrou , meaning “ weir ” or “ sty ” respectively .
10.The unfortunately - name hamlet ofDROOPin Dorsettakes its namefrom an Old English Son , þrop , for an outlying village or farmstead .
11.EAGLEin Lincolnshire literally means something like “ oak tree - Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree wood ” or “ oak - tree glade , ” and deduct from a combinationtwo Old English word roots .
12.There are a handful of villages in Essex in southeast England namedEASTER , which despite appearance believably take their name froman Old English Holy Writ , eowestre , meaning “ sheep - fold . ”
13.Likewise , there are towns and villages all over England calledEYE , admit examples in Suffolk , Herefordshire , and Cambridgeshire . All of them take their name from the Old English wordeg , which , as well as meaning “ island , ” was also used to refer to a relatively well drained area of land in an otherwise marshy or boggy landscape . The wordsislandandisle , incidentally , also come fromOld Englisheg .
14.The Derbyshire Greenwich Village ofFLAGGin the Peak District probably takes its name from a Norse parole for aplace where greensward could be cut .
15.The village ofHAMin Gloucestershire — as well as the “ ham ” found at the end of countless place name likeBirminghamandNottingham — is derived from a wide - used quondam English parole , hamm , for a town or farmstead , or else an enclosure or otherwise obscure or hold in area of land , like a mound or an area of land ring by a river flexure .
16.An Old English first name , Haegel , is at the solution of the name of the Lincolnshire village ofHEALING .
17.Probably nothing to do with being high , the Wiltshire Greenwich Village ofHIGHWAYactually takes its name from being a road for hay .
18.Like “ ham,”HOPEis another common element in ancient English billet names — as well as the name of villagesin Derbyshire , North Yorkshire and Herefordshire — and derives from an Old English word , hop , meaning “ vale ” or “ close in plot of ground of land . ”
19.The Isle of Wight off the south coast of England is plate to “ Seven Wonders”—namely seven local place ( Lake , Ryde , Cowes , Freshwater , Newport , Newtown , Winkle Street , andThe Needles ) whose names seem to contradict their meaning : you ca n’t thread The Needles , there are no winkle on Winkle Street , you ca n’t bottle the Newport , imbibe the Freshwater or milk the Cowes , you take the air in Ryde , and there ’s no lake inLAKE . Instead , the village of Lake remove its name , somewhat confusingly , from an Old English Word of God , lacu , meaning “ stream . ”
20.LOOSEin Kent takes its name from an Old English word for a grunter - sty , hlōse .
21.The Aberdeenshire village ofLOSTis so small it ’s probably unimaginable to get lose in it . It claim its name from a corruption of a Scots Gaelic word , taigh - òsda , meaning “ inn ” or “ hotel . ”
22.MAKERon the coast of Cornwall takes its name from an one-time Cornish word , magoer , meaning “ wall ” or “ ruin . ”
23.One of the little islands in the Inner Hebrides , the Scotch island ofMUCKderives from a Gaelic parole , muc , imply “ squealer . ”
24.NASTYin Hertfordshire is n’t as smutty as it sound : it derives from a chemical compound of the Old English wordsēastandhæg , and literally means “ easterly enclosure . ”
25.OGLEin Northumberland derives fromOcga , an Anglo - Saxon first name , andhyllorhill .
26.The small town ofOLDin Northamptonshire was originally call “ Walda , ” then later “ Wolde , ” and took its name fromwald , an Old English word for a woodland .
27.PLUSHin Dorset come froman Old English word , plysc , entail “ pool . ”
28.REDDISHnear Manchester belike has nothing to do with colour and insteadcombines the old English wordshreodanddic , intend “ ditch by the reed beds . ”
29.The “ sand ” ofSANDWICHin Kent is exactly that , but the “ wich ” comes fromthe Old English wordwic , intend “ trading place , ” “ dwelling , ” or “ farm . ” Put together , it likely originally referring to a coastal market townsfolk .
30.SENDin nearby Surrey gain from the Old English Holy Writ forsand , sende …
31 . … whileSETTLEin West Yorkshire come froman Old English word , setl , mean “ eminent dwelling house place . ”
32 . and 33.BothSHEETin Hampshire andSHUTEin Devon derive fromsciete , an Old English word for a corner or bend of res publica .
34.Another evenhandedly unfortunately named Greenwich Village , THONGin Kent derives fromthe Old English wordthwang , intend “ a minute stint of res publica . ”
35.TIPTOEin Hampshire takes its name from an honest-to-god crime syndicate name , Typetot , that has been register in the area since the thirteenth century at least .
36.TONGUEin the Scottish Highlands actually stand for “ tongue , ” in the sense of a projecting spit of land . In that common sense , it derives from an ancient Norse password , tunga .
37.UPHILLin Somerset is n’t in reality acclivitous , but rather “ above the stream”—it would have once unite the Old English wordsuppan , meaning “ higher ” or “ upon , ” andpyll , meaning “ tidal creek . ”
38.WHALEin Cumbria is 40 miles from the coast , and unsurprisingly has nothing to do with marine mammal . rather , it derives fromhváll , a Norse watchword for a rounded mound .
39.LikewiseWOOLin Dorset has nothing to do with sheep , but comes from an Old English discussion for a spring , wiell .
40.And no one really knows whyYELLINGin Cambridgeshire is so call , butone theoryis that it is named after someone who had the Anglo - Saxon first nameGiella .
