Norman toponymy


Placenames in Normandy have a variety of origins. Some belong to the common heritage of the Langue d'oïl extension zone in northern France and Belgium; this is called "Pre-Normanic". Others contain Old Norse and Old English male names and toponymic appellatives. These intermingle with Romance male names and place-name elements to create a very specific superstratum, typical of Normandy within the extension zone of the Langue d'oïl. These are sometimes called "Normanic".

Pre-Normanic placenames

There are still a significant number of Celtic names, as there are throughout France and western Europe. These names, partly mixed with Latin elements, follow the Late Latin phonetic changes that led to Langue d'oïl.

Traditional large cities

Almost all the main cities kept a Romanized Celtic name, that produced the modern toponym.

BC era

  • Rouen: from the Gallo-Romance ROTOMAGU, in turn from the Gaulish Ratumacos. The first part of the name might refer to roto-, the word for "wheel" or "race", cf. Old Irish roth or Welsh rhod. The meaning of the second part, Magos, is much clearer: "field", "plain", or later "market" cf. Old Irish mag, meaning "field" or "plain"; Old Breton ma, meaning "place". Taken together, the whole could mean "hippodrome", "racecourse", or "wheel market".
  • Caen: probably *Catumagus, from the Old Celtic catu-, meaning "battle", "fight", or "combat"; or the Old Irish cath, meaning "combat", "battalion", or "troop"; the Breton -kad /-gad and the Welsh cad, both meaning "combat" or "troop". As a whole, the name could mean "battlefield".
  • Carentan: attested as Carentomagus.
  • Vernon: probably *Vernomagus, meaning "plain of the alder-trees", derived from uernā, meaning "alder-tree"; or, in Old Irish, fern; and in Breton and Welsh, gwern.

AD era

In the following examples, a Gaulish toponym was replaced by the name of the local tribe, according to a process well known in the later Roman Empire:
  • Bayeux: rooted in the civitas named Bajocassensis; which was formerly known as Augustodurum, meaning "forum dedicated to Augustus".
  • Evreux: rooted in the civitas named Eburovicensis, formerly known as Mediolanum.
  • Lisieux: rooted in the civitas named Lexoviensis, formerly known as Noviomagus, meaning "new market", from the Old Celtic noviios, meaning "new".
  • Avranches: rooted in the civitas named Abrincatii; formerly known as Ingena or Legedia.
There were exceptions to this practice, such as:
  • Coutances: derived from Constantia, meaning "dedicated to Emperor Constantius Chlorus".
  • Lillebonne: derived from Juliobona, where Julio meant "dedicated to Julius", and bona, from the Old Celtic, meant "foundation" or "spring"..
Some of these would disappear later, replaced by Normanic names; thus Coriovallum became Cherbourg and Caracotinum became Harfleur. Such changes indicate that the older inhabitants who used the earlier name were displaced by newcomers, either leaving completely or becoming a small minority.
Some cities' Pre-Normanic names are not known, such as Honfleur or Dieppe.

Common northern French toponymic types

The most common suffix in northern France is -acum, that means "place of" or "property". Its origin is the Celtic -āko. Originally, it was used to as the location of either a god or a people. Examples include Anualonacu, meaning "sanctuary of Anualō " and nautae Parisiaci, meaning "sailors of the Parisii ".
In northern France and southern Belgium, –acum became -ay, -ai, -ey, -é or -y. All of these variations are found in Normandy. Places with this suffix include Gournay, Bernay, Cernay, and Andilly.
Another, generally later, variation is composed of masculine names that can be either Gaulish or Latin, for example: Massy from Gaulish Mascius; Marcilly from Roman Marcellus; Fleury from Roman Florius; and Montigny from Roman Montanius.
However, the latest -acum formations are combined with a Christian or a Germanic masculine name, such as Repentigny, from the Christian name Repentinus or with a Romance placename element. The most common -acum place-name in Normandy is Glatigny, of which more than 40 exist.

Romance place-name elements

These come from the Vulgar Latin, but began only about 100 years after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, in the 6th century AD, but we don't own any document mentioning such place-names before the 8th century with Bourville. In this province, it is sometimes difficult to know if these formations are Pre-Normanic or Normanic, due to similarities between the two.
The main romance appellatives are the following:-ville or Ville-, meaning "farm", and later "village"-court, Cour-, or Cor-, meaning "farm with a courtyard"-val or Val-, meaning "small valley"-mont or Mont-, meaning "hill"-mesnil, -menil or Mesnil-, meaning "property"

General description

In Northern France, including Normandy, the extension of -court, -ville, and -mesnil corresponds generally to Frankish and other Germanic settlements. This is the most likely reason why the common word order is also from the Germanic: determinative plus determined. Examples include: Neuville, meaning "new village"; Bourville meaning "Bodard's farm"; Harcourt meaning "Herulf's farm"; and Attemesnil meaning "Adda's property". Less than one-third of France, the north, makes use of the Germanic ordering.
In Vulgar Latin, as in Celtic, the opposite word order prevailed: determined plus determinative. This order dominates in Occitan toponymy, as well as in western France. Instead of Neuville, in the south we find Villeneuve, derived either from Occitan, Vielanova, or from a more modern name.
Similarly, northern Neuchâtel, Neufchâtel, or Neufchâteau, meaning "new castle", corresponding to southern Châteauneuf or Châtelneuf, a translation of Castelnau in Occitan.

Local specificity

In the Norman toponymy, the most widespread appellative is -ville or Ville-, with an estimated 20% of the French communes of Normandy containing this appellative. The oldest recorded instance is Bourville, as Bodardi villa in 715. This is in contrast to the much less frequently used -court, which was not used anymore in the Viking Age.
The most widely used -ville toponyms are combined with either an Old Scandinavian or Anglo-Scandinavian male name or a Romance adjective: Amfreville, Auzouville, Beuzeville, Colleville, Épreville, Sotteville, Tocqueville, Touffreville, Tourville, Trouville, Grainville, Bretteville and Englesqueville or Anglesqueville. These toponyms do not exist in France outside of Normandy, because their first element is an Old Scandinavian or an Old Anglo-Scandinavian personal name and sometimes a romance adjective marking they came from Great-Britain, but were mainly Anglo-Scandinavian farmers. In addition some typical Gaelic male′s names can be found in Doncanville, Quinéville or Quenneville, Néville.
The -court appellative is usually combined with either a Germanic masculine name, as in Hébécourt, from Herbert > Norman-French Hebert, as in Sébécourt, from Sigebert > Sebert. It almost never appears as a suffix in the western part of Normandy, but as a prefix : Gourfaleur from falor, the name of a people; Coulvain, meaning "Laipwin's court"; and Coulimer, meaning "Lietmar's court". François de Beaurepaire observed that -court and Cour- were never used with an Anglo-Scandinavian male's name or element.
Another common appellative is -mesnil or Mesnil-. They are mainly combined with masculine anthroponyms as in Aubermesnil or Avremesnil, much like the -ville place-names, and were later built according to the Romance order, for example Mesnil-Hermant and Mesnil-Esnard.
The appellative -bosc or Bosc-, meaning "wood", corresponds to the French word bois, and is specific to this Province. In Normandy, it is usually combined with a masculine name: Auberbosc and Colbosc, when following the Germanic order; while the later Romance order gives numerous examples, such as Bosc-Roger, Bosc-Renoult, and Bosc-Robert.
-vast is the only one that never appears as *Vast-, but autonomous as le Vast. The first element must be a personal name, like Gallo-Romance Martin in Martinvast, Old Norse Sóti in Sottevast, and Old Norse Tóli in Tollevast. Véraval, now often misspelled as Ver-à-Val, became a -val place-name by popular etymology. First recorded as Warelwast in 1024, utilizing the former appellative, -wast, which is now spelled -vast in the north and gat in the south. Its etymology is ultimately Latin vastus "bad land" mixed up with Old Low Franconian *wost "desert".

Normanic place names

Description

The fixation of Old Norse place-names in this part of Neustria began with the Norse settlements at the end of the ninth century, expanding in the tenth century with the creation of the Duchy of Normandy by Rollo in 911 most likely date prior to the 11th century. Since the speakers of Old Norse were linguistically assimilated into the Old French dialect society within a few generations, these settlement names were given most likely date prior to the 11th century. Most of these settlers were coming from areas that are today most likely Danish and less frequently Norwegian. From the founding of the Duchy of Normandy, many settlers from Danelaw came to settle in the region, to a lesser extent and particularly in Cotentin, some came from the Viking establishments of the Scottish Islands and Ireland. These languages were quite similar to each other, making it difficult to distinguish the origin of the appellatives and accompanying adjective or male name.

Old Norse and Old English appellatives

  • Acre, -acre "field" > "surface measure", from Old Norse akr "field", with influence of Old English aeċer "acre". In Herboutacre, hamlet at Grainville-Ymauville. First element Herbout- represents probably the Germanic personal name Herbold now found as patronymic as Herbout in pays de Caux ; Fouquelacre ; l'Acre-Guérard
  • Bec- or -bec, derived from beck, meaning "stream" or "brook". It can also be found alone as in, le Bec. Examples of its combination with an adjective would be: Houlbec, meaning "hollow beck"; Foulbec, meaning "dirty beck"; and Caudebec 'cold beck' like Caldbeck etc.
  • -beuf or Boos, from Old Norse búð > Old Eastern Norse bóð and Old English bōth > English booth, meaning "booth, shed". Examples are: Elbeuf-sur-Andelle, Elbeuf, Criquebeuf-en-Caux, Lindebeuf, and Boos - similar to Booths, Yorkshire -, Daubeuf-la-Campagne. Two cases at least are doubtful: Criquebeuf-la-Campagne and Carquebut, which probably derive not from Old Eastern Norse bóð but from the Old Norse bú. Sometimes -beuf has been misspelled -bœuf, meaning "ox" in French, as in Cricquebœuf. The other -bœuf place-names throughout France refer to "ox", and clearly allude to slaughterhouses, such as Écorchebœuf, Tubœuf or Tombebœuf. The -beuf, -bu, -bot element corresponds to the place-names ending with -by in Great Britain. It explains the existence of parallel formations on both sides of the English Channel:
NormandyGreat Britain
Elbeuf Welby
Criquebeuf Kirkby
Daubeuf Dalby
Ribeuf Risby

A similar use can be found in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany : Haddeby.
  • Breq- or -breque, from the Old Norse brekka, meaning "slope", "incline", or "hill". Found in the following place-names: Houllebrecque in, Brecqhou.
  • -cher or -quier, from the Old Norse kjarr meaning "marsh" or "swamp", which can be found in Villequier and Orcher.-clives, -lif, Clé- or Cli-, from the Old Norse klif or Old English clif, meaning "cliff". Examples of which are: Risleclif, Witeclif, Verclives, Clitourps, Cléville, Carquelif, and Clairefougère.
  • Crique- or -crique, from the Old Norse kirkja, meaning "church", but this should not be confused with the French term, la crique from Old Norse kriki, "creek". Examples of this appellative are la Crique, Criquetot-l'Esneval, Criquetot-le-Mauconduit or Yvecrique.
  • Dalle-, -dalle, -dal, or Dau-, from the Old Norse dalr, meaning "valley", or the Old English dæl, meaning "dale". It can be seen on its own with a romance article as in la Dalle or Le Dallet; or in combination with an adjective, as in Dieppedalle, Croixdalle, and Oudalle.
  • Escalle or -écal-, from either the Old Norse skali or Old English scale, meaning "shelter". Examples would be Touffrécal, Brecquécal, Écalles-Alix, and Villers-Écalles.
  • Étain-, Étan- or Étenne-, from the Old Norse steinn or Old English stān, meaning "stone". Examples would be: Grestain, Étainhus, Étaintot, Étheintot, Étalondes, and Étangval.
  • -gard, from the Old Norse garðr, meaning "yard" or "garden", found in the names: Auppegard and Figard.
  • -gate or -gathe, meaning "way", as in Houlgate, la Houlgate, Hôrgate, Hiégathe, etc.
  • Hague, -hague, from the Old Norse or Old English haga, meaning "enclosure". Examples are: la Hague, le Tohague, Étauhague, and le Haguedic.
  • Hogue or Hougue from the Old Norse haugr, meaning "hill", found in names like Les Hogues, Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue, and la Hougue-Bie.
  • Houlme, Hom or -homme, from the Old Norse word holmr, meaning "islet". This element can be written like the French word meaning "man", but is pronounced differently: French versus Norman or . It is found in place-names such as Le Houlme, Robehomme, Saint-Quentin-sur-le-Homme, and les Échommes.
  • -hus or -hurs from the Old Norse hús or Old English hūs, meaning "house". As found in: Sahurs and Étainhus.
  • Londe, -lon or -ron, from the Old Norman londe, meaning "forest" or "wood". There are over 45 municipalities and hamlets named La Londe in Normandy, as well as several Les Londes. It is also used in combination with other adjectives, such as Bouquelon, Bois de Boclon, la Bouquelonde, combined with bók, meaning "beech tree"; Yquelon, Yclon, Iclon combined with eik, meaning "oak tree"; Écaquelon, Écaquelon, combined with the Old English sċeaċere, meaning "thief" or "brigand"; Catelonde with personal name Káti; Yébleron ; Ablon with epli "apple".
  • Thuit or -tuit, from the Old Norse thveit, meaning "assart", English Thwaite (placename element). Several le Thuit exist, as well as other combined examples, such as Bracquetuit, Vautuit, and Bliquetuit.
  • Torp, Torps, Tourp, Tourps, -tourp or -tour, from the Old Norse torp or the Old English thorp, meaning "settlement". There are several stand alone towns named either Torps or le Torp. Other examples are: le Torp-Mesnil, Clitourps, Saussetour, Sauxtour, similar as Saustrup, meaning "Saxi's Torp".
  • Tot or -tot, meaning "property", is the most common suffix of Old Norse origin, with more than 300 locations ending with -tot in Normandy. It is derived from the Old Norse topt, meaning "site of a house". In later usages of the 11th century, it can also be found alone as in, le Tot. It can be combined with a male name, as in Yvetot, Routot, Martintot or Létantot,, Hrolfr, Martin and Lestan ); or a tree-name, as in Bouquetot, and Ectot or Ecquetot and Plumetot ; or with another appellative or adjective, examples of which would be Martot, Életot, and Hautot, Hottot or Hotot.
  • Veules or El-, from the Old Norse vella or OE wella, meaning "spring" or "stream", which can be found in place-names such as: Veules-les-Roses, Elbeuf, Elbeuf-sur-Andelle, and Elbeuf-en-Bray.
  • -vic or -vy, meaning "bay" or "beach", as in: le Vicq, Sanvic see Sandwich or Sandvik, Brévy, Vasouy, Cap-Lévi.

Old English appellatives

Old English appellatives:
  • -bourg or -bury, meaning "borough": Cabourg, Wambourg, and Cherbourg.
  • Bruque- or -broc, from brōc, meaning brook: le Fouillebroc, and Bruquedalle.
  • -crot, -croc or -crocq, meaning croft: Vannecrocq and Bec-de-Croc. The difference in spelling with either a -c or a -cq is the result of confusion with the French croc, meaning "fang" or "tooth".
  • -fleur, from either flōd or flēot, meaning "run of water" or "river going into the sea": Honfleur, Barfleur, Harfleur, Vittefleur, Crémanfleur, Vicqfleur, and la Gerfleur. This appellative is similar to -fleet found in place-names in the North of England, such as Adingfleet, Marfleet, and Ousefleet.
  • -ham, meaning "home": Ouistreham, Étréham, and le Ham.
  • -land or -lan, meaning land: Heuland and Ételan.

Old Norse masculine names

Old Norse -i names

The names in parentheses are the earlier forms of the place-names, with the century in which they appeared.Ámundi or Old Danish Amundi: Émondeville, Mondeville and probably AmontotAgi or Old Danish Aghi: AcquevilleÁki or Old Danish Aki: Achelunda and AcquevilleApi: Aptot, Aptuit, Appeville, Appeville-Annebault, Appeville Baggi:La Baguelande

Old Norse simple and combined names

Old Norse simple and combined names:

Anglo-Saxon -a names

Anglo-Saxon -a names:

Anglo-Saxon simple and combined names

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