List of Latin place names in Britain
| Latin Place Names |
|---|
| By country |
| By type |
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2019) |
This list includes places in Great Britain (including neighbouring islands such as the Isle of Man), some of which were part of the Roman Empire, or were later given Latin place names in historical references.
Background
[edit]Until the Modern Era, Latin was the common language for scholarship and mapmaking. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, German scholars in particular have made significant contributions to the study of historical place names, or Ortsnamenkunde. These studies have, in turn, contributed to the study of genealogy. For genealogists and historians of pre-Modern Europe, knowing alternative names of places is vital to extracting information from both public and private records. Even specialists in this field point out, however, that the information can be easily taken out of context, since there is a great deal of repetition of place names throughout Europe; reliance purely on apparent connections should therefore be tempered with valid historical methodology.
Caveats and notes
[edit]Latin place names are not always exclusive to one place — for example, there were several Roman cities whose names began with Colonia and then a more descriptive term. During the Middle Ages, these were often shortened to just Colonia. One of these, Colonia Agrippinensis, retains the name today in the form of Cologne (from French, German Köln).
Early sources for Roman names show numerous variants and spellings of the Latin names.
The modern canonical name is listed first. In general, only the earliest source is shown for each name, although many of the names are recorded in more than one of the sources. Where the source differs in spelling, or has other alternatives, these are listed following the source. As an aid to searching, variants are spelled completely, and listed in most likely chronology.
Cities and towns in England
[edit]
| Latin name | English name |
|---|---|
| Aquae Arnemetiae | Buxton |
| Aquae Sulis | Bath |
| Bremetennacum | Ribchester |
| Camulodunum | Colchester |
| Cantabrigia (medieval Latinisation) | Cambridge |
| Cataractonium | Catterick |
| Coria, Corspitium | Corbridge |
| Corinium | Cirencester |
| Danum | Doncaster |
| Deva | Chester |
| Dunelmum[1] | Durham |
| Durnovaria | Dorchester |
| Durocobrivis | Dunstable |
| Durobrivae | Rochester |
| Durovernum Cantiacorum, Cantuaria | Canterbury |
| Eboracum | York |
| Exonia | Exeter |
| Glevum | Gloucester |
| Isca Dumnoniorum | Exeter |
| Isurium Brigantum | Aldborough |
| Lindinis | Ilchester |
| Lindum Colonia | Lincoln |
| Londinium | London |
| Londonia | London |
| Luguvalium | Carlisle |
| Mamucium, Mancunium[2] | Manchester |
| Noviomagus Reginorum | Chichester |
| Oxonium, Oxonia | Oxford |
| Petuaria | Brough |
| Pons Aelius | Newcastle upon Tyne |
| Ratae Corieltauvorum | Leicester |
| Rēgulbium, Rēgulvium | Reculver |
| Rutupiae | Richborough |
| Sobriodunum | Salisbury |
| Venta Belgarum | Winchester |
| Verulamium | St Albans |
| Vigornia | Worcester |
| Viroconium Cornoviorum | Wroxeter |
Cities and towns in Scotland
[edit]| Canonical Latin name | Other Latin names | English name |
|---|---|---|
| Andreanae[3] | Kirkruel?,[4] Reguli Fanum, Andreopolis; GOL:[5] Sanctae Andreae Coenobium, Kirkrule, Kilrule | St Andrews |
| Devana[6][3] | Aberdonia, Aberdona, Verniconam; GOL:[5] Aberdonum, Aberdonium, Abredonia), Devanha | Aberdeen |
| Dunedinum[7] | Edinburgum, Edinum; GOL:[5] Edimburgum, Edenburgum, Alata castra, Alatius burgus, Aneda, Puellarum castra) | Edinburgh |
| Glascouium | Glascovia, Glascum, Glascua, Glasgua | Glasgow |
| Trimontium | Newstead |
Cities and towns in Wales
[edit]| Canonical Latin name | Other Latin names | English name |
|---|---|---|
| Alabum | Llandovery | |
| Bangertium[5] | Bangor | |
| Blestium | Monemuta | Monmouth |
| Bovium | Cowbridge (disputed) | |
| Burrium | Usk | |
| Cambria | Wales | |
| Canovium | Caerhun | |
| Castra Diva | Chester | |
| Cicutio | Pumsaint | |
| Gobannium | Abergavenny | |
| Isca Silurum [8] | Isca, Iscae[9] Isca Augusta,[5] Isca Legio, Castra Legionis | Caerleon |
| Mediomanum | Caersws | |
| Menevia | Meneva | St Davids |
| Moridunum | Carmarthen | |
| Nidum | Neath | |
| Segontium[8] | Segontio,[9] Seguntio,[5] Seguntium | Caernarfon |
| Venta Silurum | Caerwent |
Island names
[edit]| Latin name | English name |
|---|---|
| Botis[10] | Bute |
| Caesarea[10] | Jersey |
| Clota (Insula)[10] | Arran |
| Ebudae[10] | Hebrides |
| Malaeus[10] | Mull |
| Mona[10] | Anglesey |
| Monapia, Monaoeda[10] | Isle of Man |
| Orcades[6] | Orkney |
| Scetis[6] | Skye |
| Taniatide[9] | Thanet |
| Vectis[6] | Isle of Wight |
Region or country names
[edit]| Latin name | English name |
|---|---|
| Albion[6][11] | Great Britain |
| Anglia | England |
| Britannia[6][11] | Great Britain |
| Caledonia[6][11] | Scotland |
| Cambria | Wales |
| Cornubia | Cornwall |
| Hibernia[10] | Ireland |
| Orientalium Anglorum | East Anglia |
| Scotia | Scotland, and formerly applied to Ireland |
| Salopia | Shropshire |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Also other spellings
- ^ "Mancunium" derives from an early misspelling of the Roman name.
- ^ a b HLU: Hofmann, Johann Jacob (1635–1706): Lexicon Universale
- ^ '?' probably historical mistake
- ^ a b c d e f GOL: The standard reference to Latin placenames, with their modern equivalents, is Dr. J. G. Th. Grässe, Orbis Latinus: Lexikon lateinischer geographischer Namen des Mittelalters und der Neuzeit (1861), an exhaustive work of meticulous German scholarship that is available on-line in the second edition of 1909. To use it, one must understand German names of countries, as they were in 1909. The original was re-edited and expanded in a multi-volume edition in 1972.
- ^ a b c d e f g 2PG2: Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemaeus), Geographia; book "PG" chapter (that is, "2PG2" instead of the usual "II.2"). Ptolemy wrote in Greek, so names are transliterated back into Latin to reveal the original form.
- ^ BSH: Buchanan, George (1506–1582): Rerum Scoticarum Historia (1582)
- ^ a b AI: Antonine Itinerary
- ^ a b c RC: Ravenna Cosmography, Ravennatis Anonymi Cosmographia
- ^ a b c d e f g h 2PG1: Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemaeus), Geographia; book "PG" chapter (that is, "2PG1" instead of the usual "II.1"). Ptolemy wrote in Greek, so names are transliterated back into Latin to reveal the original form
- ^ a b c Tacitus (Gaius Cornelius Tacitus), Agricola
Sources
[edit]In order of likely publication:
- TA: Tacitus (Gaius Cornelius Tacitus), Agricola
- PNH: Pliny (Gaius Plinius Secundus), Naturalis Historia; book "PNH" chapter (that is, "37PNH81" instead of the usual "N.H.xxxvii.81").
- PG: Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemaeus), Geographia; book "PG" chapter (that is, "2PG3" instead of the usual "II.3"). Ptolemy wrote in Greek, so names are transliterated back into Latin to reveal the original form.
- AI: Antonine Itinerary
- ND: Notitia Dignitatum
- RC: Ravenna Cosmography, Ravennatis Anonymi Cosmographia
- BSH: Buchanan, George (1506–1582): Rerum Scoticarum Historia (1582)
- HLU: Hofmann, Johann Jacob (1635–1706): Lexicon Universale
- HD1851: Rejected by modern historians, but seen in this document from 1851 – [1] and [2] (bottom of one page to top of next)
- GOL: The standard reference to Latin placenames, with their modern equivalents, is Dr. J. G. Th. Grässe, Orbis Latinus : Lexikon lateinischer geographischer Namen des Mittelalters und der Neuzeit (1861), an exhaustive work of meticulous German scholarship that is available on-line in the second edition of 1909. To use it, one must understand German names of countries, as they were in 1909. The original was re-edited and expanded in a multi-volume edition in 1972.
- A.L.F. Rivet and Colin Smith, The place-names of Roman Britain, London, 1979 (reprinted by Book Club Associates, 1981).
External links
[edit]- Antonine Itinerary
- Buchanan, Rerum Scoticarum Historia
- Grässe, Orbis Latinus
- Grässe, Orbis Latinus
- Historical Directories, England and Wales, from 1750 to 1919
- Hofmann: Lexicon Universale
- Notitia Dignitatum: The British Section
- Pliny the Elder: the Natural History
- Ptolemy: the Geography
- Roman Map of Britain
- Tacitus: Agricola (English)
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20061006222944/http://www.ipa.net/~magreyn/#Record�Interpreter List of Latin placenames in Britain]