Not surprised it’s so widespread, ham is delicious
“Eaglesham” is the Northernmost one one this map, for anyone curious.
It’d be interesting to see vik/Wick/wyck and “by”. I work in Denmark and all those suffixes are rife here, Which is unsurprising as the Jutes went west.
Where the gammons live
Absolutely loads in SE London, and surrounding areas: Lewisham, Peckham, Beckenham, Sydenham, Downham, Mottingham, Bellingham, Streatham, Mitcham, West Wickham, Westerham, Caterham, Warlingham.
In amongst lots of the “hams” is Penge, apparently the only London area with a Brittonic etymology.
Twickenham, Petersham and Ham all being right next to eachother
Do the hams outnumber the tons as a name ending?
Really struggling to think of what any of those in South Wales could be. Wrexham’s the only Welsh one I’ve been able to figure out
What’s up with those county lines
Worth noting that this doesn’t always mean the place was founded by Anglo-Saxons, though it often seems to be. Chatham is a good example, the Chat- bit deriving from the Brythonic word for wood (compare to Welsh coed).
Just the one in Derbyshire: Higham. How come the least Anglo-Saxon place in England is right in the middle?
East Anglia seems to be winning the battle for most hams.
Shropshire is a (almost) designated ham-free zone
A ‘ham’ was an Anglo Saxon name for a stream/ river crossing, if my history serves me correct
The suffix ‘ham’ could be derived from one of two words: ham, the Saxon word meaning ‘settlement’, or hamm, meaning ‘water meadow’. A ‘ham’ can also be a geographical feature roughly corresponding to a peninsula surrounded on three sides, usually by marsh.
There’s one missing in east Dorset. Longham. Or Hampreston – they’re both pretty close to each other.
Is that Eaglesham in Scotland?
Interesting map. I live in a “ton” which I believe is Norman? Although prior to being ton it was “tune.”
I wonder why the Normans didn’t replace Anglo-Saxon names.
mmm, ham
I’m in Wales, I actually can’t think of any place in my area with ‘ham’ in the name. Nearest city to me is Swansea, a Viking settlement named after King Sweyn Forkbeard, I’d like to see if there’s more Norse influence on our places names than Saxon that would be interesting
Seems a little ham- fisted
This is rough for the colorblind
Unsurprisingly, there’s a very good episode of _Map Men_ that delves into how different areas of the UK got their names (and their impossible pronunciations too!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYNzqgU7na4
My surname is XXXham. My XXXham ancestors were farmers (with their own land) on the Surrey Sussex border, I like to think they were there right back to Saxon times.
Never expected to see Cupernham feature on Reddit.
Very interesting, sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole. If anyone is struggling to think of the -hams near them it may be because they are tiny, or even abandoned places.
Just found out there’s two Gothams in England: one in Dorset and one in Nottinghamshire. Thought it was just the latter.
It’s the Notts one that Batman’s city is indirectly named after. (Washington Irving gave the name of “Gotham” to New York City, and Bill Finger decided to use that for the name of Batman’s not-quite-New-York.)
30 comments
Does this include Ham?
A higher concentration south of the Tees-Exe line.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tees–Exe_line](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tees–Exe_line)
Not surprised it’s so widespread, ham is delicious
“Eaglesham” is the Northernmost one one this map, for anyone curious.
It’d be interesting to see vik/Wick/wyck and “by”. I work in Denmark and all those suffixes are rife here, Which is unsurprising as the Jutes went west.
Where the gammons live
Absolutely loads in SE London, and surrounding areas: Lewisham, Peckham, Beckenham, Sydenham, Downham, Mottingham, Bellingham, Streatham, Mitcham, West Wickham, Westerham, Caterham, Warlingham.
In amongst lots of the “hams” is Penge, apparently the only London area with a Brittonic etymology.
Twickenham, Petersham and Ham all being right next to eachother
Do the hams outnumber the tons as a name ending?
Really struggling to think of what any of those in South Wales could be. Wrexham’s the only Welsh one I’ve been able to figure out
What’s up with those county lines
Worth noting that this doesn’t always mean the place was founded by Anglo-Saxons, though it often seems to be. Chatham is a good example, the Chat- bit deriving from the Brythonic word for wood (compare to Welsh coed).
Just the one in Derbyshire: Higham. How come the least Anglo-Saxon place in England is right in the middle?
East Anglia seems to be winning the battle for most hams.
Shropshire is a (almost) designated ham-free zone
A ‘ham’ was an Anglo Saxon name for a stream/ river crossing, if my history serves me correct
The suffix ‘ham’ could be derived from one of two words: ham, the Saxon word meaning ‘settlement’, or hamm, meaning ‘water meadow’. A ‘ham’ can also be a geographical feature roughly corresponding to a peninsula surrounded on three sides, usually by marsh.
There’s one missing in east Dorset. Longham. Or Hampreston – they’re both pretty close to each other.
Is that Eaglesham in Scotland?
Interesting map. I live in a “ton” which I believe is Norman? Although prior to being ton it was “tune.”
I wonder why the Normans didn’t replace Anglo-Saxon names.
mmm, ham
I’m in Wales, I actually can’t think of any place in my area with ‘ham’ in the name. Nearest city to me is Swansea, a Viking settlement named after King Sweyn Forkbeard, I’d like to see if there’s more Norse influence on our places names than Saxon that would be interesting
Seems a little ham- fisted
This is rough for the colorblind
Unsurprisingly, there’s a very good episode of _Map Men_ that delves into how different areas of the UK got their names (and their impossible pronunciations too!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYNzqgU7na4
Map men, map men, map map map men men men…. Men
https://youtu.be/uYNzqgU7na4?si=mlxXdqdStrn8xwX6
My surname is XXXham. My XXXham ancestors were farmers (with their own land) on the Surrey Sussex border, I like to think they were there right back to Saxon times.
Never expected to see Cupernham feature on Reddit.
Very interesting, sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole. If anyone is struggling to think of the -hams near them it may be because they are tiny, or even abandoned places.
[For example in lone dot in South Lincolnshire is down on Wikipedia as a ‘deserted medieval village’.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wykeham,_Weston,_Lincolnshire) Looks like there’s just some ruins and a farm nearby now.
Just found out there’s two Gothams in England: one in Dorset and one in Nottinghamshire. Thought it was just the latter.
It’s the Notts one that Batman’s city is indirectly named after. (Washington Irving gave the name of “Gotham” to New York City, and Bill Finger decided to use that for the name of Batman’s not-quite-New-York.)