Celtic Place-Name Explainer
See what Irish, Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Cornish, Breton and Manx place names mean, how to say them, and where they are.
31 place names
“high court”, from lys “court” and ardh “height”
“holy headland”
from porth “port” and ysek “abounding in corn”
“inlet”
from tewyn “sand dune” and plustri “animal grazing area”
“harbour of Bude”; the name Bud is of uncertain origin
“harbour of the island”
“red ford”
“crooked hill”
from fow “beeches” and gwydh “trees”
“church enclosure of Gwedhenek”, a personal name
from bos “dwelling” and mena “hill slope”
“harbour of Saint Piran”
“court of Kerrys”, a personal name
“old court”
“harbour of Saint Elvan”
from pons “bridge” and Old English wæd “ford”
“Thursday market”, from marghas “market” and Yow “Thursday”
“estuary”
from lu “fleet” and lynn “pool”
from tre “farmstead” and din “fort”
“place of hills”
“harbour”
“church site of Anta”, a Cornish saint
“harbour of Saint Ia”
“white cove”
“mouth of the River Fal”
“church enclosure of Saint Stephen”
“headland”
“kittiwake”
from dew “two” and logh “inlet”
Common place-name elements
Many names are built from a few common words. Pick one to see every place that uses it.
- porth · port, harbour, cove (8)
- lann · holy enclosure (3)
- lys · court (3)
- logh · inlet (2)
- aber · river mouth, estuary (1)
- bos · dwelling (1)
- enys · island (1)
- hen · old (1)
- heyl · estuary (1)
- penn · head, top, end (1)
- res · ford (1)
- rudh · red (1)
- tre · homestead, town (1)
Go deeper than the map
blas. teaches the language behind the places: vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. Free to start.
Meanings and glosses are adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0) and the other sources cited on each page. Map and area data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).