viking place names ending in thorpe viking place names ending in thorpe

Why is it impotant that we have both human and phisical maps? Other common Scandinavian place names are those ending in -thorpe (meaning 'a new village'), as in Scunthorpe (meaning 'Skuma's village'), or -thwaite (meaning 'a meadow', 'a piece of land'), as in Lothwaite ('clearing on a hill'). -nez: nes meaning cape. How dose a great white shark adapted to its habbit? The suffix gate from gata, which means street or road. Most of the place names beginning with sk-, for example, show Old Norse linguistic influence. Why do we protect some areas from flooding but not others? However, most evidence suggests that the Vikings began to speak The -thorpe names are connected with secondary settlement, where the settlements were on the margins or on poor lands. -londe: lund meaning clearing, look for Icelandic place names lundur, as in Bjarkarlundur. Netherthorpe, Sheffield has many districts with a Thorpe suffix, though I suspect some are modern, in the fashion of Viking place names. The name can either come from Old Norse orp (also thorp),[1] or from Old English (Anglo-Saxon) rop. modern Swedish or other Scandinavian languages and get a feel for You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. How to find English place names of Norse origin? And, next time you're in a Thorpe, a Howe, a Kirkby, or even in Grunty Fen (our favourite place name), think of the Vikings who've left an indelible mark . Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing. Historical boundary of Normandy Place names with Norse roots are most common near the coast and along the river Seine. Let us know! The Jorvik Cityscape We can still see evidence of Viking Age York in the names of streets and places in the modern city. Let me count the ways, A taste of the Deep South in South Shields, Happy Halloween : Tales of Witches, Warlocks, Mummies and Severed Heads, Mary Ann Cotton : Victorian serial-killer, Presidents, Prime Ministers, people of power (and their links to North East England). Just as intriguing,Gateshead across the Tyne lies at the head of the road or way dating back to Roman times and perhaps earlier. These settlements were probably established by families from other Viking villages, moving to create new centres for farming and trading. The Viking word for street is 'gate' and street names ending in 'gate' are evidence of Viking settlement. -nez: nes meaning cape. In England Viking place names are of course most common in the area known as the Danelaw, the areas where Danish law applied in Northern and Eastern England, the shires of Yorkshire, Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, Stamford, Lincoln and Essex. When Vikings are conjured in the popular imagination they clasp swords rather than chisels, but many, The common association of highly furnished weapon burials containing a male skeleton with warriors is still a highly debated topic, Viking winter camps were more than just bases for the Great Army to live in during the winter or centres, Our knowledge of the Viking Great Army's movments during its campaigns in England is provided by entries in the Anglo-Saxon, Nowadays it is common to see people wearing various accoutrements such as earrings, necklaces, pendants, or rings. Hackenthorpe The -by has passed into English as 'by-law' meaning the local law of the town or village. Head of the gate seems a plausible explanation for Gateshead, however, the Venerable Bede, writing in the seventh century describes Gateshead in Latin as Ad Caprae Caput meaning the head of the she goat so perhaps there was some form of totem or symbol of a goats head overlooking the ancient bridge across the Tyne. Most place-name experts are skilled linguists with knowledge of several languages that are no longer spoken today like Old English (the language of the Anglo-Saxons), or the Old Norse of the Vikings as well as old Celtic languages like Brythonic and Old Welsh. What are the names of the 5 oceans of the world? Not particularly common in Iceland, but is known as a farm name. part means it was built on or near to an old road, most likely Conduct an interview of an older family member or friend, to find out how their holidays have changed over time. -torp: orp meaning village. -kirk: kirkja, meaning church. I havent seen it anywhere else. Grimston is sifmply the town of Grmur. A good example is Egilsay in the Orkney Islands. Viking place names are understandably more common in the areas where Viking settlement and influences were most dense and Viking influences were strongest. These (-by) endings effectively meant it was a village or settlement. strand: strnd, meaning coast. Another suffix is thorpe, with 155 place names ending in thorpe in Yorkshire alone. What was made in Viking AgeJorvik (York)? These by names are all Viking and usually Danish in origin, although Normanby points to Norwegian northmen. On these pages you can find out about the names the Vikings gave to the places in which they settled down in the East Midlands. Ive always been fascinated by place-name origins. The place-names ending in by were often a farm or village at the centre of an estate. Just about anything ending in ton or ham is Anglo-Saxon including most of those ingtons and inghams: Darlington, Bedlington, Billingham, Bellingham and so on. Laindon - long hill. In England Viking place names are of course most common in the area known as the Danelaw, the areas where Danish law applied in Northern and Eastern England, the shires of Yorkshire, Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, Stamford, Lincoln and Essex. Nordic place names can be found all over the UK, but especially in and around Yorkshire. There are 155 place names ending in -thorpe in Yorkshire. what is a land use model and what is it used for? The old name was Alcuith a Celtic name referring to a river. Scunthorpe and Grimethorpe -thorpe meant farms. These place names usually refer to where farms once existed, but . Place Names Regions where Vikings settled can be recognised by the place names: for example, names ending in -by (village), -thorpe (farm), -keld (a well), and -thwaite (a piece of land).Most place names in the Shetland and Orkney islands off Scotland come from Old Norse, the language of the Vikings. Its from the Old English (Anglo-Saxon) hlaw meaning hill. This page has been archived and is no longer updated. Proudly made in Reykjavk City. -keld:kelda, meaning spring. Nowadays, these mostly refer to villages, but some of these have grown into sizeable towns, such as Grimsby in Lincolnshire. Another factor is that few large The five fortified towns of the Viking Boroughs are marked as is Eoeorwic (York) and Lunden (London) which was reclaimed by the Saxons in . Thanks . Viking place names in the British Isles In the eastern part of Ireland, several towns and natural areas bear names also bear witness to the strong Viking presence in the 9th and early 10th centuries. Well the separateness of Sunderland dates to Anglo-Saxon times and refers to land detached or sundered from an estate by the King of Northumbria for the use of the Wearmouth monastery. Rivers, becks, burns and linns : Whats in a (North East) Place-Name? : Grimesthorpe Arbouthorpe Owlthorpe Hackenthorpe Waterthorpe Arbourthorpe Jordanthorpe Woodthorpe Netherthorpe CG 10 January 2022 There are several arguments connected with these place names. Where is the lowest place on earth's surface? . These are known as 'Grimston hybrids', because -ton is an Anglo-Saxon word meaning town or village, and Grim is a Viking name. Join our weekly hand curated newsletter to have all the latest news from Iceland sent to you. i know they transport the iron-ore to Sao Luis but not where in the amazon the project actually is. -dalle: dal meaning valley. wick: vk, meaning bay. The suffix -gate from gata, which means street or road. The Icelandic equivalent is br which is a very common suffix. In fact its essential right down to a knowledge of local soil types, quality of drainage (at that time) and the suitability of land for early farming and settlement. The -thorpe names are connected with secondary settlement, where the settlements were on the margins or on poor lands. Norsemen were active throughout Europe in the 9th century. There are still place names in the UK that were given by the once the Viking language became the main language of the region, place names Street usually refers to a Roman road. Its name is pure During the Viking Age, which is commonly considered to last from the earliest recorded Viking raids in the 780s until the Norman conquest of England in 1066, Viking explorers, merchants and raiders extended their influence throughout Europe and beyond. News from Iceland, What to do and see, local travel tips and expertise. 2. Other places have a Norse prefix, like Grimston. Most major place-names (of towns and villages) in England were given in the Old English language. The easiest and quickest approach is to look for the place names ending in by, meaning town or farm. Burh - Anglo-Saxon defended settlement. The map, which includes such interesting places like Glmgilskeggjahryggur, became an instant hit, being shared thousands of times. gerdi: geri, meaning enclosed area. Compare the spelling of the Leicestershire Rolleston asRovestonin 1086 and Rolveston in 1156 with that of the Nottinghamshire one asRoldestonin 1086. Thorpe as placenames. Place names ending in -thorpe, such as Scunthorpe. Alda told the local newspaper Morgunblai that the intense interest took her by surprise. The name is composed of sn, meaning snow and fell, meaning mountain. Any ideas for the origins of the Wiske in Danby Wiske ? In other cases the Norse suffix was added to an Anglo-Saxon word or name. There are literally thousands of place names in England, of Viking origin, and hundreds in Western Europe. The Vikings did not leave as large an imprint on the landscape of France or even Normandy, where their influence was greatest. To help you find these Viking footprints on the map we prepared this guide. Other places have a Norse prefix, like Grimston. This article related to topography is a stub. x, What is the name given to people who live in the arctic. For example in the south of our region around Middlesbrough there are many place-names ending in the element by: Thornaby, Ormesby, Tollesby, Normanby, Danby, Lackenby, Lazenby, Maltby and so on. Owlthorpe Interestingly, Rolleston in Leicestershire, though apparently identical, seems to have been named after Hrolfr (or possibly the cognate English name Hrothwulf). the Place Name Registry of the National Land Survey of Iceland, Wikimedia under a creative commons license. Many Viking place-names contain personal names as their first element. Yorkshire Dialect Words of Old Norse Origin, From a midwinter celebration to a Christian feast, Danegeld The Vikings and money in England, Scandinavian take-over of estates in The Danelaw, Scandinavian terms for landscape features in the Danelaw, The Danelaw population, culture and heritage, Kovirke Fortress of Mighty Oak and Earth, Air masses which affect the Baltic and Skaggarack, Basin Information, Current and their effects, Terrain Features which affect Baltic weather, Some Family names based on the craft of the Metalworking Smith, The Normandy-Yorkshire Linguistic Connection, Place names as a mixture of Anglo-Saxon and Viking words. Other experts have argued that Anglo-Saxon and Viking placenames near Langar and Barnstone Langar and Barnstone are Anglo-Saxon placenames. In Oxford Dictionary of English, edited by Stevenson, Angus. Students could study the location and landscape of these places and discuss why the Vikings may have chosen these places to settle. Some historians The other main area where we find Viking place names is Normandy, a territory in North France conceded by the Franks to Danish Viking settlers around the mouth of the Seine. Look for Icelandic place names ending in -haugur or beginning with Haug-. Looking for a tutor to help me with dissertation based on cycling in the transport planning field. A ham was a homestead and a ton an enclosed settlement. Later it became the home of a castle and palace belonging to the Bishops of Durham hence the Bishop part of the name. -hogue: haug meaning small hill or mound. But it also exists as a place name on its own. Thorp is a Middle English word for a hamlet or small village. So in Viking times a by place-name had a higher status than a thorpe place-name. Most English placenames with both thorpe and Viking connections Outside of the Faeroe Islands and Iceland the most thorough Viking settlements in the North Atlantic were in the Orkneys and Setland Islands, the Isle of Man. are on the east side of the middle and north of England because the In other cases Viking place names can be identified by the use of a Norse suffix, like thorpe which means village or -by, which can both mean village or town, as in Grimsby, which simply means the town or farm of Grmur. For a quick and easy guide to the most likely interpretations of all major names in England, please visit the Key to English Place-Names. Other place names suggest not just a straightforward Viking settlement, but perhaps the intermingling of Scandinavians and Anglo-Saxons, or the renaming of sites previously held by the English. Its name is pure Viking and derives from the Old Norse for Skuma's homestead. on the traditional Anglo-Saxon sites. Place names with Viking roots are most dense close to the shore in Normandy, and become more spares as we move inland, with the exception of the banks of the river Seine. and is there an example of this on the Dorset/Hampshire coastline? When the Vikings arrived in a new land they gave their names to places. 2 real life examples of tornadoes and descriptive statistical facts and the causes of them 2, Timeline of events for the honda industry, for my home work i have a three week project but realized it has to be handed in tommorow please give me major south african mountains? gerdi: geri, meaning enclosed area. Viking but Germanic (Angle, Saxon etc). holm: hlm, meaning small island. In Norman French it was Duresme and in Latin it was Dunelm. Stanhope: Means stony side valley. Examples are easy to find, with names such as Grimsby ('Grim's homestead'), Thurnby (either 'homestead near a thorn-bush' or 'Thyrne's village'), and Derby ('village near deer') still very common. She admits that she didn't create the map, which she said she found on Reddit. Unlike other le place-names it doesnt use hyphens but it could easily have been called Hart-le-Pool. In Gunthorpe, Nottinghamshire, for example, the first element is the female name Gunnhildr. The original Anglo-Saxon coastal homelands stretched from Frisia and the Netherlands up to the present day border of Germany and Denmark. All actual places, only two minor errors Im temporarily staying around here and am fascinated by the place names. Bamburgh: From Bebbas Burgh, a burgh or fortified place named from a Northumbrian queen called Bebba who was the wife of King thelfrith. Waterthorpe Anglo-Saxon place names end in -ham, -ing, -stowe, -stead, - and -ton. In truth I think that everyday names can be just as interesting. Place names as a mixture of Anglo-Saxon and Viking words. Viking Place Names Distribution of Viking Settlements names in Britain. "thorp." Wikimedia under a creative commons license. wick: vk, meaning bay. Is the level of activity less than that at a conservative margin since the plates are moving less rapidly or is there actually more activity due to the extreme pressure? sker: sker, meaning skerry. Hartlepool : Means Stag Island Pool. Its an unusual hobby perhaps, though I find it rather strange that few people share my curiosity for such everyday features of our world. In modern Icelandic we have the word tft, which is used for the visible ruins of a farm structure, but is also known as a homestead name. Kaer Lundein - "Lud's City" - London. Scunthorpe - Norse settlers also introduced place names ending in "thorpe", which means it is a place were farms once existed. Place names as a mixture of Anglo-Saxon and Viking words. There are 210 by place names in Yorkshire alone. There are at least 589 places in Normandy which end with suffix tot. Jordanthorpe Viking Words hus = house holm = islet; dry place in a marshy area orm = Serpent or Dragon Place names ending in -thorpe (or -thorp, -throp or -trop) eg. Viking place-names Some place-names give clues to the origins of the early settlers who founded the place. The Viking contribution to the language we speak today is astonishing. Then there is Snaefell, the highest point on the Isle of Man: Snaefell is composed of sn, meaning snow and fell, meaning mountain. strand: strnd, meaning coast. In other cases Viking place names can be identified by the use of a Norse suffix, like -thorpe which means village or -by, which can both mean village or town, as in Grimsby, which simply means the town or farm of Grmur. Zoom Level: Latitude: Longitude: 6: . Finding these place names isnt that hard if you know what you are looking for. The maps on this page show some of the places with name endings derived from the Viking period. The suffix gate from gata, which means street or road. Where were the Viking settlements in England? Promise! Students could carry out research into Viking place names and investigate these places in modern Britain. For example, places ending in '-thorpe' were often small Viking settlements, '-thwaite' meant settlements carved out of woodlands and '-by' meant settlement. Those of Anglo-Saxon origin are to be found in southern England from Worcestershire to Surrey. Students could carry out research into Viking place names and investigate these places in modern Britain. Street names also reveal what happened there, for example, in a street named 'whip-ma-whop-ma-gate', people were punished by being whipped. -dalle: dal meaning valley. Thorpe-le-Street is a mix of Viking and Old English. Join our weekly hand curated newsletter to have all the latest news from Iceland sent to you. Geoff. A linguist and expert in place names at the University of Iceland told Morgunblai that all the place names on the map check out, although there are two minor errors: Lyngtungufjalsshjalli is misspelled, and should be Lyngtungnafjallshjall. The best places to look Lunnd - marsh (Gaelic). Adlestrop and Southrope). The ending part, -ton is from Old English -tun (meaning 'farming village'). Look for Icelandic place names ending in -haugur or beginning with Haug-. The idea is that a Viking took over an Anglo-Saxon place and called it after himself. these is a topic on cities and the patterns in cities, Whenever I answer 6 mark questions, i alwys get 3/6 and i don't know how i am suppost to get 6/6. Place names ending in -thorpe seem to indicate lands that the. strom: straum, meaning stream. Arbourthorpe I would like to ask where the place names ending in Thorpe originated i.e. There are 155 place names ending in -thorpe in Yorkshire. Viking origins because the word was also used by tribes from North Place names as a mixture of Anglo-Saxon and Viking words. it cant be boring! Other places have a Norse . Those of Anglo-Saxon origin are to be found in southern England from Worcestershire to Surrey. Our virtual museum has only a selection (though a growing one) of relevant place-names. Before thelfriths time it was known by the Celtic name Din Guayroi. about the river nile then and now for kids in yr 5. Snaefell The highest mountain of the Isle of Man, at 620 m (2,034 ft)above sea level. York was a major centre for traders and craftsmen in Viking times. Looking for a tutor to help me with an argumentative essay on climate change. (Women's names . North Atlantic Islands, the Danelaw and Normandy Netherthorpe. So what can farmers grow or farm in desert like conditions in Mali?? The Vikings liked to keep themselves clean and tidy - archaeologists have discovered razors, combs and even ear cleaners. However the earliest spelling in old records is Aescen-denu and this is an Anglo-Saxon place-name that means valley (a dene or denu) overgrown with ash trees. Some local Viking placenames - Barkestone - 'Borkr's tun' = Bark's farm - Borkr was a common Norse name. There are 155 place names ending [] Another suffix is thorpe, with 155 place names ending in thorpe in Yorkshire alone. Photo/Jon Wornham/Wikimedia Commons. clett: klett, meaning rock or cliffs. Did you know that Sunderland was the sundered or separated land; Newcastle was simply a New Castle and Gateshead was, quite strangely, the head of the she-goat? Can you name vikings place names ending in thorpe. Earlier this week a local author, Alda Sigmundsdttir, shared a map with 35 place names that will "help you understand what dyslexia feels like". Place names as a mixture of Anglo-Saxon and Viking words. Place names with Norse roots in the British Isles number in the hundreds. Variations of the Anglo-Saxon suffix are "-throp", "-thrope", "-trop" and "-trip" (e.g. How are slope over wall cliffs formed? Skellingthorpe is similar, and is pure Viking. It sometimes occurs in Normandy as Torp(s) / Tourp(s) / -tourp or even -tour, for instance: le Torp-Mesnil, le Tourp, Clitourps or Saussetour (Manche, Sauxetorp end 12th century, like Saustrup, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, former Saxtorppe and Saxtorf, former Saxtorpe 1538 idem, and Saxthorpe in Norfolk, England), all from Old Norse[4] or Old English. Many place-names (mostly ending in -by, such as Selby) are from Old Norse in origin. If I understand correctly, from the map of plate boundaries and direction of the plate's movement in my book, seismic activity is associated with collisional plate boundary but there is not much explanation on this beyond this. These are known as 'Grimston hybrids', because -ton is an Anglo-Saxon word meaning town or village, and Grim is . Jordanthorpe There were three main areas where Vikings lived - Northumbria (which included modern-day Yorkshire), East Anglia, and the Five Boroughs. S horpe and Grimethorpe-thorpe meant farms.Place names ending in -toft or-tofts.A -toft referred to the site of a house or a plot of land.Viking Wordshs = householme = islet; dry . Some historians have argued that the Viking invasions involved very large numbers of people because there are so many Viking place names. Then there is Snaefell, the highest point on the Isle of Man: Snaefell is composed of sn, meaning snow and fell, meaning mountain. Im an amateur enthusiast when it comes to place-names to be honest. Thanks. In other cases the Norse suffix was added to an Anglo-Saxon word or name. However, even if the Vikings themselves and any physical remains they might have left behind, have long since disappeared, they did leave unmistakeable marks on the landscape in the local place names: Wherever the Vikings settled we can find place names with Norse origins. Do you want to know more about this subject? Many places ending in words like -thorpe, -toft, -ness, -by, and -kirk are likely to be Norse in origin. How to find French place names with Norse origins? I live in Lincoln Hill, a few miles north of Hexham and would love to know the derivation of Lincoln Hill. DAVID SIMPSON explores the sometimes surprising meanings of place-names in the North East region. We at Iceland Magazine decided to create a helpful Google-map to help travellers find these places. These are known as 'Grimston hybrids', because -ton is an Anglo-Saxon word meaning town or village, and Grim is a Viking name. are Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. Although we don't know for sure, we assume that this kind of name means that the settlement once belonged to a woman who gave her name to it. Place names as a mixture of Anglo-Saxon and Viking words. The only way of distinguishing between the two is to examine the earliest spellings of these names. Join our weekly hand curated newsletter to have all the latest news from Iceland sent to you. For example, places ending in '-thorpe' were often small Viking settlements, '-thwaite' meant settlements carved out of woodlands and '-by' meant settlement. Elsewhere in England (and in Derbyshire and Leicestershire) these divisions are known by the English term hundred. However, most evidence suggests that the Vikings began to speak English quite quickly, and also stopped writing in runes. Sound familiar? In areas settled by Vikings, such as the East Midlands, we can also see how their language was used to coin names. Arbouthorpe This is the kind of work done by the English Place-Name Survey based at the University of Nottingham. A common place name ending in parts of Normandy is tot, from the Norse word tft, meaning the place of a farm. Some places include: Mablethorpe, Moorthorpe and Cleethorpes (if you allow a 's' on the end). The New Castle of Newcastle dates to Norman times, the first castle being built by William the Conquerors eldest son Robert Curthose in 1080 on the site of a Roman fort. English quite quickly, and also stopped writing in runes. Sundered Land, New Castle, Goats Head : Whats in a North East Place Name? Many of these wouldnt seem at all out of place in North Yorkshire. [2], Old English (Anglo-Saxon) rop is cognate with Low-Saxon trup/trop/drup/drop as in Handrup or Waltrop, Frisian terp, German torp or dorf as in Dsseldorf, the 'Village of the river Dssel', and Dutch dorp.[3]. But it also exists as a place name on its own. The Street Each name will also be given in one or more runic alphabets, and will be linked to appropriate place-names where relevant. The Vikings gave names to places Still, there are hundreds of place names in Normandy with suffixes of Norse origins. There are a number of Snfells in Iceland, and then of course there is the snow-mountain-glacier, or Snfellsjkull. Other experts have argued that once the Viking language became the main language of the region, place names would naturally be named using Viking words. -by or -bie: town, farm or settlement. Unfortunately, Gunnhildr is a rarity and these do not include many female names. Outside of the Faeroe Islands and Iceland the most thorough Viking settlements in the North Atlantic were in the Orkneys and Setland Islands, the Isle of Man. Settlements elsewhere in Europe & beyond. One theory is that it is named from its middle location between the historic Christian centres of Whitby and Durham. Egilsay simply means Egils Island. Derby - Names ending with "by" are usually places where Vikings first settled. Le was added by the Normans as part of a suffix to distinguish places with similar names Le-Street distinguishes it from other places called Chester. Place-names ending in thorpe are Viking just like those ending in by. But we can find Viking traces in place names outside these areas as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Du3_JHH5zC4&list=PLqkZM0deNugtwPmeVOQf2IV1x3Y37k1hX, Gemmas Journey : Theatre, Culture, Events, Berts Blogs: Energy, Science and Reminiscenses, North East Maps, Gifts and Clothes by Tangled Worm, North East Quiz Number 1: Test Your North East Knowledge, Explore the magic of sculpture at Cheeseburn, Jewels of emotion admired beyond our inspirational shores, Stunning, timeless timelapse for the North East, North East Culture, Creativity and Connections. vat: vatn, meaning lake. North Atlantic Islands, the Danelaw and Normandy Also in this collection you can find out more about Old Norse personal names. We take place-names for granted but all have an origin and meaning that is often long forgotten or sometimes lost in time. Its my Geog homework i just can't get my head around it. There are countless places in Iceland with the suffix nes. Scunthorpe is a town in Lincolnshire, England. Photo/Wikimedia Creative Commons license. No one actually knows how London got its name, for example. They also spread east, along the Baltic and up the rivers of Russia, making it all the way to Constantinople. i have to do a presentation on ireland. There are a large number of Scandinavian words in English connected with farming or boats, such as the keel of a boat, which indicate the importance of farming and sailing. Thorps often appear in roleplaying games as the smallest form of permanent habitation. A common place name ending in parts of Normandy is tot, from the Norse word tft, meaning the place of a farm. Great site and have passed on to family and friends . The Angles and Saxons were a Germanic people closely related to the later Vikings. Grimston is sifmply the town of Grmur. They also spread east, along the Baltic and up the rivers of Russia, making it all the way to Constantinople. The White Mound. Middlesbrough: Means middle manor or perhaps middle fortified place. Interestingly, they are quite rare north of the Tees Aislaby near Yarm and Raby (Castle) near Darlington are exceptions that are not that far to the north of the river. Don't worry, we won't spam you. 'What are the physical factors that affect the farmer's decision of what to grow, and what are the human factors that affect the farmer's decision of what to grow?' This term may refer to the brandishing of weapons as a sign of assent at a legal assembly. Thus, Skeffington, meaning 'the dwelling of Sceaft's people' has a first element which is an Old English personal name, Sceaft, that was Scandinavianised when the settlers arrived. North East place-names and their origins. dale: dal, meaning valley. For the female names, then, we have looked at other sources, particularly from the neighbouring county of Yorkshire, to give an idea of the kinds of names being used at the time. Viking place names end in -by, -thorpe, -toft, and -scale. So, what about familiar names like Sunderland, Newcastle and Gateshead? All of these are found as parts of place names in Iceland as well. Two particularly common examples in East Ireland are the suffixes holm, hlm which translates as small island or hill, and -firth suffix, derived from fjr, which means fjord. 2nd level There are 155 place names ending in -thorpe in Yorkshire.