Etymology Map Of London Place Names

 

How did your bit of London get its name? The Londonist has made a map. This shows significant places from all over Greater London, represented to show how they got their names.

Etymology can be a game of probabilities. Many place names were shaped so long ago that nobody can be certain if any one explanation is correct. Croydon, for example, is usually said to get its name from ‘valley of crocuses’, but other suggested derivations include ‘settlement near fresh water’, ‘crooked valley’ or ‘chalk hill’. For that reason, the labels they’ve put on the map are not universally accepted, and are open to debate.

If you’d like to make a suggestion regarding the map, be it a new addition or an alteration to an existing location, please contact Matt Brown on matt@londonist.com.