Place Names

This page is about terms that commonly occur in place names, particularly in Great Britain, and their meanings.

Wich		Brine well (salt)
Strath (Scottish)		Broad river valley
Kyle (Scottish: as in Kyle of Lochalsh)		Channel
Kirk (in Scotland and northern England)		Church
Llan (Welsh)		Church
–ley, –lea, –leigh		Clearing
Thwaite		Clearing with a dwelling
Weald: old English name for a		Forest
Ness (e.g. Bowness, Sheerness, Dungeness)		Headland
Chipping (e.g. Chipping Camden, Chipping Norton, in the Cotswolds); also Cheap in Cheapside (London street)		Market
–chester, –caster		Military settlement (Roman)
Blair (Scottish), Rhos (Welsh)		Moor
Aber (Welsh, Scottish)		Mouth (of a river)
Mull (Scottish)		Promontory
Bourne		Stream or brook (not river)
Hurst		Wooded hill

Word of Norse origin, used in Scotland to refer to a narrow inlet of the sea or a river inlet