That’s because the suffix “-bury” derives from the Anglo-Saxon “burh,” meaning “a fort or fortified place.” So when you drive along I-84 from Waterbury to Danbury, passing Middlebury and Southbury along the way, you’re traveling a well-fortified route.
Why are places called Bury?
The name Bury, Buri and Byri comes from the Saxon and means “a stronghold”. In ancient times it is thought that the whole area was probably forest, marsh and moorland inhabited by nomadic herdsmen. A barrow or funeral mound probably from the Bronze Age was discovered at Whitelow Hill, Ramsbottom some years ago.
Why do so many towns end in Ford?
Ford in modern English still means to cross a river without a bridge. A town with the -ford suffix was where a river was broad and shallow so that people could cross.
What does bury mean UK?
to put a dead body into the ground: He was buried next to his wife. B1.
Why do towns end in by?
Settlement names ending in ‑by
The word by originally had the meaning ‘place to live. ‘ In Danish, though, the meaning must have turned into ‘village’ very early because it is extremely rare to find single farms with names in ‑by in Denmark.
What does the ending Bury mean?
a fortified place
Suffix. -bury. A placename suffix indicating a fortified place.
Why do British towns have weird names?
Roman contributions to British place names come mainly through their Latinisation of pre-Roman names. A Celtic name that had been rendered by earlier Greek visitors as Pretanniké became the Roman Britannia; an ancient name of obscure meaning became Londinium.
Why are places called Bassett?
A family named ‘Basset’ is known to have lived in South Stoneham in the 15th century, and the place name may be from their name.
Why do cities in England end in ham?
And this convention in English, that ‘ham,’ it essentially means a village. This place is a village, a place where people live. And to take it a step further that H-A-M, ham itself, in old English means ‘home,’ which is why it sort of doubles to mean village as well.
What does Leigh mean in Devon?
clearings
‘Leighs’ are clearings. So Buckfastleigh is the old ley or pasturage of the abbey, and Gidleigh, the clearing of Gytha or Gydda, probably King Harold’s mother who was one of the biggest landowners in eleventh century Devon.
Is there a town called Bury?
Bury (/ˈbɛri/ locally; or also /ˈbʊri/) is a market town on the River Irwell in Greater Manchester, England. Metropolitan Borough of Bury is administered from the town, which had an estimated population of 78,723 in 2015. The town is within the historic county boundaries of Lancashire.
How do Scottish people say Bury?
In English we say ‘bury’ and in Scots ‘burry‘, but we can say ‘yird’ in Scots too for the act of burial. yird verb.
How is Bury in Manchester pronounced?
Bury in Greater Manchester (or Lancashire as it used to be) is pronounced Burry.
Why are cities 10 miles apart?
1- The Ten Mile Rule
Before the advent of cars, people in rural settings could only walk a maximum of five miles to the nearest town in a single day for work and supplies. As a result, towns developed a five-mile sphere of influence, creating a common 10-15 mile distance between each medium-sized settlement.
Why do so many towns end in Burg?
The variant burg had the meaning of a high place that is defendable. In German, it has kept the meaning of a medieval defensive castle, die Burg “boork”. Since towns often grew up around a lord’s castle, lots of German town names end in -burg, ditto people named for such towns.
Why are so many places called Stoke?
Stoke is usually derived from the word ‘stoc’, which meant a hamlet or little settlement, which depended on a bigger settlement nearby. Meonstoke was the stoc of the Meon people. The Danish word Thorpe meant the same thing. Stow or stowe is usually derived from stowe, which meant meeting place.
What does Boro mean in city names?
borough
A borough, also -boro, -burg or -bury, comes from the Anglo-Saxon term for towns surrounded by walls or forts. Towns, which we also know as -tons, are a Norse term for a village surrounded by a fence or palisade.
How many towns in CT end in Bury?
10 town names
10 town names end in the suffix “bury.” They are Canterbury, Danbury, Glastonbury, Middlebury, Roxbury, Salisbury, Simsbury, Southbury, Waterbury, and Woodbury.
What is the rarest UK name?
What are the 50 rarest baby boy names?
- Acen.
- Addy.
- Aristotle.
- Blessing.
- Brooke.
- Cloud.
- Corby.
- Daniel-James.
What is the hardest town name to pronounce?
After drawing up a seed list of cities, the team then looked at how many times each place had been listened to in order to learn the correct pronunciation. And, with 7,000,000 listens on Forvo, the team found that Rio De Janeiro was the most difficult to pronounce city in the world.
What is the least used name in the UK?
Least popular boys’ names in the UK
- Graeme. A Scottish variation on Graham – ‘gravelly homestead’.
- Horace. Of Latin origin, ‘Keeper of the hours.
- Iain. Scottish and Gaelic variation of John, meaning ‘God is gracious’.
- Leigh.
- Melvyn.
- Nigel.
- Royston.
- Barry.