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The study of place names is called toponymy; for a more detailed examination of this subject in relation to British place names, please refer to British toponymy.

This list gives a number of common generic forms found in British place names. It is not uncommon to find a number of them in combinative compounds. An interesting example of place naming is Torpenhow (pronounced "tra-PEN-ner") Hill, in Cumbria; the name seems to have grown by waves of new inhabitants each taking over the name given by the previous occupants, and adding to it: the three syllables, tor, pen, how, each mean 'hill' in a different language.

Factors like changes in spelling over the years, shifts of meaning, and other ambiguities may further complicate the issue. For example, in places where the Danelaw prevailed and where there is uncertainty over the origin of a place name, it is common sense to prefer the Old Norse meaning to the Old English one; often, however, they are the same. Taking, for instance, Askrigg in Yorkshire, 'a place where ash trees grew': while the first element is indubitably the Norse asc (pronounced "ask"), Danelaw ask- can easily well represent a "Norsification" of the Old English form æsc (pronounced "ash"). Both asc and æsc, in any case, mean 'ash' (tree).

Sometimes, however, it was a case of incomers changing a name to match their own pronunciation habits without reference to the original meaning. Thus Skipton, Yorkshire, had it not been for settlement of the area by Norse speakers, would have come down to us as "Shipton" (Old English scip(e)tun - "sheep farm"). The Old Norse word for 'sheep' was quite different (it produced the name Faroes - the "sheep islands"), so the new settlers were not translating the name, but simply reflecting the way the English "sh-" sound regularly corresponded to Norse "sk-" in words which were cognate (as we already saw with asc and æsc).

Spellings can be misleading - for example Croydon is in a valley and Willesden is on a hill. Their expected spellings might therefore be "Croyden" and "Willesdon".

One problematic element is the Old English -ey, as in "Romsey". This commonly means "island", including "island in marsh". However, it can have other meanings, so for example in "Hornsey" -ey means "enclosure". The elements wich and wick can have a variety of meanings, often connected with industry or commerce. Some of the sites are of Roman origin. On the coast, wick is very often of Norse origin, meaning "bay" or "inlet".

The terms "Old English" and "Anglo-Saxon" are fundamentally equivalent in meaning, and represent the hybrid West Germanic language in use between the Roman abandonment of Britain and up to about 100 years after the Norman invasion of 1066.[1]

Note that in comparison to Old English and Old Norse place names, those in the Celtic languages (Cornish, Welsh, etc.) are almost always composed in reverse order, e.g. Tregonebris is tre + Conebris i.e. "the settlement of Cunebris". This is not true of all Celtic names: e.g. Malvern, from elements represented by Modern Welsh "Moelfryn" (moel + bryn - "bald hill").

Key to languages: K - Cornish; I - Irish; L - Latin; ME - Middle English; NF - Norman; OE - Old English; ON - Old Norse; P - Pictish; SG - Scots Gaelic; W - Welsh

• British toponymy
• English Place-Name Society
• Etymological list of counties of the United Kingdom
• List of places in the United Kingdom
• Place name origins

• The Scottish Place-Name Society
• An Index to the Historical Place Names of Cornwall