British Place Names @BritPlaceNames

7/7 I have seen it suggested by some that the Romans called it Sacrum Promontorium (Holy Promontory) but I can't actually find any primary sources for this. Perhaps someone can enlighten me? In any case we can say with confidence that the "holy" nature of the region predates the arrival of Christianity by hundreds or perhaps even thousands of years. There are Bronze Age (2000-1500BC) standing stones around the island and a neolithic burial chamber was discovered there too, dated to around 3750–3500 BC.

6/7 Holyhead didn't quite manage to survive Anglicisation, although it does have a Welsh name - Caergybi (Cybi's fort), Cybi being a 6th-century bishop and Saint who operated mostly in Wales and Cornwall - and this name is still used by Welsh-speaking natives. Vaguely familiar forms start to appear in the early 1300s when it became known as Haliheved, from the OE hālig (holy) + hēafod (head). It even enjoyed (if that's the right word) a brief period as Le Holyhede in the 1500s but this was likely only in formal contexts as the ordinary Welshman would not have been using French articles for naming conventions.

1/7 Interesting that both Penzance (Cornwall, England) and Holyhead (Anglesey, Wales) essentially mean the same thing etymologically - sacred headland or promontory.

7/7 I have seen it suggested by some that the Romans called it Sacrum Promontorium (Holy Promontory) but I can't actually find any primary sources for this. Perhaps someone can enlighten me? In any case we can say with confidence that the "holy" nature of the region predates the arrival of Christianity by hundreds or perhaps even thousands of years. There are Bronze Age (2000-1500BC) standing stones around the island and a neolithic burial chamber was discovered there too, dated to around 3750–3500 BC.

6/7 Holyhead didn't quite manage to survive Anglicisation, although it does have a Welsh name - Caergybi (Cybi's fort), Cybi being a 6th-century bishop and Saint who operated mostly in Wales and Cornwall - and this name is still used by Welsh-speaking natives. Vaguely familiar forms start to appear in the early 1300s when it became known as Haliheved, from the OE hālig (holy) + hēafod (head). It even enjoyed (if that's the right word) a brief period as Le Holyhede in the 1500s but this was likely only in formal contexts as the ordinary Welshman would not have been using French articles for naming conventions.

The existence of the Latin "caupō" ("innkeeper, trader") is hard to ignore; there is a reasonable case to be made that it found its way to the Germanic tribes as contact with the Romans intensified, we're talking the period between 200 BC and 200 AD. 7/7

There's no universally agreed upon theory as to where exactly all of these forms originated. Reference is often made to a "reconstructed" Proto-Germanic common ancestor such as kaupaz ("trade, bargain") or kaupōn ("to buy, trade") which certainly seems plausible. 6/7

Chipping Norton Catching up on Clarkson's Farm and started thinking about Chipping Norton. It began life simply as "Norton(e)", from the Old English norþ + tun/ton (North Settlement) 1/7