This section has a number of dialect quizzes and a link to a dialect ‘translator’. Give them a try!
Names of towns and villages all mean something. In England, many places have Anglo Saxon names. For example; BIRMINGHAM comes from BEORMA (a person's name) + INGA (family or tribe) + HA (homestead). So BIRMINGHAM simply means "Homestead of Beorma's tribe."
Here are some Anglo Saxon words and their meanings. The spellings have been simplified!
| Word | Meaning | Word | Meaning |
| ALD | old | ASK | ash tree |
| BACH | stream | BAR | barley |
| BURN | stream | BEWER | beaver |
| CARL | freeman | DEN/DENE | valley or hollow |
| FLEET | creek or inlet | BURY/BOROUGH | fortification |
| HAM | homestead | HURST | wooded hill |
| LEE/LEIGH/LEY | meadow/field | MOR/MOOR | wasteland |
| WAIN | wagon | WAL/WALSH | native Britons |
| WICK | old farming settlement | STOWE | important meeting place |
| TUN/TON | village or town |
Some words have survived unchanged, or been updated:- WELL, BRIDGE, SAND, FORD, STONE and NEW etc all feature in English names.
Now see if you can "translate" the following place-names.
ALDBOROUGH - ASKHAM - BARWICK - BEWERLEY - BURNHAM - CARLTON - MORLEY - SANDBACH - FLEETHAM - WAINFLEET - WALDEN - WALSHFORD - STOWMARKET - STONYHURST - TONBRIDGE
Click here to find the answers.
NB: Place-names can be confusing. MOUSEHOLE in Cornwall really does mean "mousehole", but MUCKING in Essex has nothing to do with mucking about! It means "Place of Mucca's Tribe".