Towns changing names

[Chris Bertram]

At some point in the future, a certain south eastern suburb of Coventry will decide whether it is Stivichall or Styvechale.

Regardless of spelling, it seems to be pronounced Sty-ch'll

[Big L]

Did Nesscliff/Nesscliffe change names? This sign is spelt correctly I believe.

[Benny]

I don't believe the odd spelling difference is a material change of name. Its simply because back then nothing was set down and spelling did change over time. Do any studying into your family tree and you might see your own surname change in spelling two or three times!

Staines' change made me cringe. The whole point of the exercise was to get a nicer sounding name and they ended up making it worse IMO.

One of the most famous name changes in the world is Oslo. It was created and called Oslo, and then renamed to Christiana in honour of the Danish King Christian IV, in 1624, a spelling reform in 1877 changed it to Kristiana and then in 1925 went back to Oslo.

The name change back to Oslo is actually covered in Roald Dahl's biography. He loved the name Kristiana and felt Oslo was boring.

[Owain]

I don't believe the odd spelling difference is a material change of name. Its simply because back then nothing was set down and spelling did change over time. Do any studying into your family tree and you might see your own surname change in spelling two or three times!

Yep - Frome in Somerset was originally Froome. The spelling has changed, but the pronunciation remains the same.

[Enceladus]

After independence in 1922, many Irish towns changed their names from their U.K. era ones to ones in Irish. Kingstown in south Dublin became Dun Laoghaire, Queenstown in Cork became Cobh, Maryborough in Laois became Portlaoise.

In the post independence frenzy of DeValera nationalism in the 1930s, more towns changed their names but later changed them back. Navan in Meath became An Uaimh but changed back to Navan again circa 1970. Likewise, Newbridge in County Kildare became An Droichead Nua but changed back to Newbridge in the 1980s. Most of the residents of the towns that changed their names to Irish form and then back again were never happy with the name change in the first instance and continued to call their towns by their English names.

Most recently, Dingle in County Kerry was ordered by the Department of the Gaeltacht (the govt agency who manage Irish speaking areas) to change its name to the Irish An Daingean. This was around 2002 and the denizens of the town protested the imposed name change. Now it is known by both names but everyone calls it Dingle.

There are a few more cases of this Gaelicisation of town names but the ones above are the ones that come to mind first and foremost. It was all to do with rampant nationalism and anti-English sentiment which is thankfully dying out today.

[KeithW]

One of the most common town names in England is Marton which basically means a settlement near a lake or pond so many changed their names to differentiate themselves. The list I came up with from wikipeedia is

Marton, Blackpool, district of Blackpool
Marton, Bridlington, area of Bridlington in the East Riding of Yorkshire
Marton, Cheshire, village and civil parish in Cheshire
Marton, Cumbria, village in Cumbria
Lindal and Marton, the local parish
Marton, East Riding of Yorkshire, hamlet in the East Riding of Yorkshire
Marton, Harrogate, village in North Yorkshire
Marton, Lincolnshire, village in Lincolnshire
Marton, Middlesbrough, suburb of Middlesbrough
Marton, Ryedale, village in North Yorkshire
Marton, Shropshire, small village in Shropshire
Marton, Warwickshire, Rugby, Warwickshire
Marton, Wiltshire, village in Wiltshire
Marton-le-Moor, village in North Yorkshire
Long Marton, parish of Eden, Cumbria

The postal address of the Marton where I live is Marton-In-Cleveland as a result.

[Piatkow]

Probably the most famous is St Petersburg - Petrograd - Leningrad - St Petersburg. Any others gone full circle through multiple intermediate names?

[Enceladus]

Peking in China became Beijing around 1980, and in India a number of cities have changed their names in the past 20 years - Bombay to Mumbai, Madras to Chennai and Calcutta to Kolkata.

It seems that there is often a political/cultural dimension to towns and cities changing their names.

[Viator]

Peking in China became Beijing around 1980

That wasn't really a change of name, though: more an update to the English-spelling of 北京 (northern capital). The old Peking was an anglicization of the Pékin used by French Jesuits in the 17th-18th centuries, itself taken from the Nanjing (southern capital) dialect of the time. Beijing is how the place is pronounced in standard Chinese today -- so it's a bit like the update to the pronunciation of Calais, which English-speakers used at one time to pronounce as a rhyme of "palace".

[wrinkly]

One of the most common town names in England is Marton which basically means a settlement near a lake or pond so many changed their names to differentiate themselves. The list I came up with from wikipeedia is

Not to be confused with Martin Mere near Southport!

[Ruperts Trooper]

One of the most common town names in England is Marton which basically means a settlement near a lake or pond so many changed their names to differentiate themselves. The list I came up with from wikipeedia is

Not to be confused with Martin Mere near Southport!

Or Marton Mere near Blackpool!

[trickstat]

I was looking at some 1920s maps on here and going around the local area seeing how much has changed and was surprised to see BERKHAMPSTED on one of them. Head into the 30s and 40s and it's BERKHAMSTED. Is this a copyright-trap or did the town actually change its spelling?

Well apparently the place name had multiple spellings and an attempt was made to settle on a single version in 1937.

The modern spelling on maps seems to be Berkhamsted as does the local council. Given the anglo saxon origins of the settlement (Beorhðanstædæ) its hardly surprising. Variations included "Berkstead", "Berkampsted", "Berkhampstead", "Muche Barkhamstede", "Berkhamsted Magna", "Great Berkhamsteed" and "Berkhamstead" the locals apparently just refer to the place as "Berko"

Having lived all my life in (a different part) of Hertfordshire, I can confirm that people from that area do usually just say "Berko".

[trickstat]

Another recent one is Staines (home of the fictional Ali G) switching to the rather more gentrified Staines-upon-Thames.

Having been brought up not all that far from Staines, the 'upon-Thames' bit just sounds odd to me. I wonder how many people actually quote it as 'Staines-upon-Thames' in their address? (It's still in Middlesex to me, too... )

I've lived in Letchworth (Garden City) since 1989. In the first few years I was here, I got a little annoyed when people used 'Letchworth Garden City' in their address. I found it somewhat archaic, a bit like putting your address as 'Stevenage New Town' rather than Stevenage. Since it became the name of the railway station and the name of the postal town, I began to use it in my written address. This may be at least partly influenced by having a job which involves addresses.

In conversation, I would only say I live in "Letchworth Garden City" in a rather jokey way. People from Stevenage or Hitchin would think I was a pretentious **** if I said it straight-faced. I suspect a similar thing holds for many other places:

If you live in Staines-upon-Thames you would tell someone from Chertsey or Feltham you come from Staines.
If you live in Stratford-upon-Avon you would tell someone from Evesham or Banbury you come from Stratford.
If you live in Royal Leamington Spa you would tell someone from Warwick or Rugby you come from Leamington.
If you live in Bognor Regis you would tell someone from Chichester or Worthing you come from Bognor.
If you live in Royal Tunbridge Wells you would tell someone from Tonbridge or Sevenoaks you come from Tunbridge Wells.
If you live in Hemel Hempstead you would tell someone from Watford or St. Albans you live in Hemel.

As an aside, if, someone from, for example, Stevenage, says that something is in "Welwyn" or "they are going to Welwyn" tomorrow, they usually actually mean Welwyn Garden City. The (smaller) town of Welwyn itself tends to be referred to as "Old Welwyn".

[Piatkow]

I was looking at some 1920s maps on here and going around the local area seeing how much has changed and was surprised to see BERKHAMPSTED on one of them. Head into the 30s and 40s and it's BERKHAMSTED. Is this a copyright-trap or did the town actually change its spelling?

Well apparently the place name had multiple spellings and an attempt was made to settle on a single version in 1937.

The modern spelling on maps seems to be Berkhamsted as does the local council. Given the anglo saxon origins of the settlement (Beorhðanstædæ) its hardly surprising. Variations included "Berkstead", "Berkampsted", "Berkhampstead", "Muche Barkhamstede", "Berkhamsted Magna", "Great Berkhamsteed" and "Berkhamstead" the locals apparently just refer to the place as "Berko"

Having lived all my life in (a different part) of Hertfordshire, I can confirm that people from that area do usually just say "Berko".

Also Ricky for Rickmansworth.
I wonder how many other towns have diminutives like that. At university Aberystwyth was always Aber which did result in the occasional letter from home arriving via the village on the north Wales coast.

One other that I know that the village of Garndiffaith near Pontypool is (or was when my Aunt who lived there wa alive) invariably "The Garn". They seemed to like the definite article in that valley as the villages of British and Varteg both gained it informally. The latter of course bringing it into line with the Welsh version Y Farteg.

[orudge]

Dairsie in Fife is also known as Osnaburgh. It appears the village grew out of two smaller settlements, Dairsiemuir and Osnaburgh.

[vlad]

Having lived all my life in (a different part) of Hertfordshire, I can confirm that people from that area do usually just say "Berko".

Also Ricky for Rickmansworth.
I wonder how many other towns have diminutives like that. At university Aberystwyth was always Aber which did result in the occasional letter from home arriving via the village on the north Wales coast.

I'd assume there are plenty. Just off the top of my head there's Manc, Macc, Brum, Kidder, 'Castle and Skem - if I thought for a bit I could probably come up with more.

[trickstat]

Having lived all my life in (a different part) of Hertfordshire, I can confirm that people from that area do usually just say "Berko".

Also Ricky for Rickmansworth.
I wonder how many other towns have diminutives like that. At university Aberystwyth was always Aber which did result in the occasional letter from home arriving via the village on the north Wales coast.

Yes, Ricky, Hemel & Berko tend to be the norm amongst people in the west of Herts.

Admittedly, a city rather than just a town but I have on a few occasions heard "Cov" as a diminutive of Coventry. I think "Darlo" for Darlington, "Scunnie" for Scunthorpe and "Skeggie" for Skegness are fairly well-known ones. I expect there are others that are only really used within a small radius of the town itself.

[multiraider2]

Delabole in Cornwall only became that in the 20th century. There were originally three hamlets: Pengelly, Medrose and Rockhead. When the railway arrived, the station was named Delabole after the nearby quarry, and the three hamlets merged in order to keep the name consistent and prevent confusion. That information from the B3314 in the Wiki, which I did provide the text for, but I forget whether that detail was already on this website or I researched it from elsewhere.

[Isleworth1961]

Bristolians often use these local abbreviations: Briz (Brislington), Bemmy (Bedminster), Stoke Bish(op), Shire(hampton)...

[RichardA626]

When I was growing up in Marple Stockport was Stocky & Brinnington was Brinny, but I can't remember any other local towns being shortened.