Can someone explain to me the naming structures of British places?

I don't understand the use of [City]-upon-[Name], or the use of 'shire', 'ford', etc.





Can someone please explain to me the use of some suffixes and words in British place names? Just something that's been bugging me for a while now.

Can someone explain to me the naming structures of British places?
In England, many place names are Anglo-Saxon in origin. Some of the most common are:





-ing (from ingas: the settlement belonging to x's people or family)


-ham (either from ham: homestead or hamm: water meadow)


-tun, -ton (tun: enclosure, farmstead; 'town' is a later derivation)


-den (denu: valley)


-don (dun: hill)


-ley (leah: a clearing)


-worth (worth: an enclosure, farmstead)


-mere (mere: pond)


-borne (burna: stream or brook)


-ey (eg: island)





There is more information at http://www.englishplacenames.co.uk/
Reply:There are many placenames with descriptive parts within them, far too many to remember, many of them are obvious, like ford (a water crossing), bridge (obvious), sea (obvious), pool (by water), ton (town), shire ( comes from the old English "Sire Reeve"- area of land run by a lord), Chester (castle or fortified town)some are more obscure, like dub (black), or llyn (water or pool). Therefore Dublin would mean Blackpool!! hope these help, there are many more when you look into them.
Reply:ford is a crossing in a river - so 'ford' was ofetn added to a place name because that is where u cross the river. the 'ton' added to a name means 'town'. A 'shire' is a county. A city upon name is a place upon a river.





You will come across the word 'ness' such as Inverness in some place names - that means the mouth of... Inver actually is Scots gaelic for 'river'.
Reply:Newcastle on Tyne is simply the town of Newcastle which stands on (across) the river Tyne





Kington upon Thames is the town of Kingston which stands on (across) the river Thames.





Many of the suffixes come from ancient English - some even as far back as Roman times.





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