RULES FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF PERSONAL, PLACE AND CORPORATE NAMES
3.2 General rules for the formation of a place name
3.6 Northern Irish and Irish place names
3.8 Appendix 1: Sources for the formation of place names
3.9 Appendix 2: Alphabetical list of examples used in the text Back to top
3.1 PLACE NAMES
3.1.1 Definition of a place name
A place name is a term which allows the accurate identification of a geographical entity and which distinguishes between such entities with the same name. 1
3.1.2 Contents of a place name
A place name may comprise the following components as appropriate to the area described: 2
3.1.2A Civil parish, local administrative unit, county (or equivalent) and country may be places in their own right, or may act as additions or qualifiers to identify other places. Rules for their use are set out in the individual sections which follow. It is recommended that British place names should be further qualified by identifiers such as grid references and foreign place names by references to latitude and longitude: see 3.1.3.
3.1.2B As many components should be employed as to allow the accurate identification of a place, discriminating between those bearing the same name. The elements should be relevant to the country of origin. The specific elements for English, Welsh, Scottish, Irish and foreign names are given in the following sections 3.3.1, 3.4.1, 3.5.1, 3.6.1 and 3.7.1.
3.1.3 Grid references
3.1.3A To aid the unambiguous identification and location of places in a national context, grid references should be used. The advantages of using Ordnance Survey (OS) grid references are the introduction of an element of precision not otherwise readily available, the existing widespread use of OS mapping and the comprehensiveness of the source since the 19th century.
3.1.3B For England, Wales and Scotland, OS National Grid references should be used for all current place names and, wherever possible, for non-current place names. In the case of place names in Northern Ireland or in the Irish Republic, use should be made of the Irish Grid references. In most cases, a four-figure reference is an adequate identifier, however a six-figure reference may be used where greater precision is required.
3.1.3C Places outside the British Isles should be identified by latitude and longitude.
3.2 GENERAL RULES FOR THE FORMATION OF A PLACE NAME
3.2.1 General rule for choice of a place name
The chief source of a place name will generally be the primary documentary evidence. If at all possible, the name as found there should be verified in standard works of reference such as those cited in Appendix 1 and entered in an authorised form compatible with the present Rules as regards fullness, choice of language, identification etc.
3.2.1A Use the contemporary form of the name as found in the primary source. Where this version is no longer current, cross-refer, using reciprocal see also (xx) cross-references, between it and the most recent form of name.
3.2.1B Variant names are those forms of names in use concurrently. Where variant names occur, cross-refer from the principal variants to the authorised form of name.
3.2.2 Rules relating to specific cases
3.2.2B Where a place no longer exists, but its location is known, the entry should follow the same Rules as for current places:
Where the location of a place is unknown, the name should be given as in the primary source with any possible additions:
3.2.2C Names relating to geographical areas located in more than one county should be entered with the country as an addition:
3.2.2D Compound place names should be entered in natural language order:
3.3 ENGLISH PLACE NAMES
3.3.1 Contents of a place name
A place name may comprise the following components as appropriate to the area described:
3.3.2 Counties
Whether as a qualifier or in its own right, use the county name which is contemporary with the primary sources. Where this version is no longer current, cross-refer, using reciprocal see also (xx) cross-references, between it and the most recent form of name. The full county name should always be used (see Appendix 1, 3.8.1).
3.3.3 Civil parishes
F.A. Youngs, Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England (London, Royal Historical Society, 2 vols, 1981, 1991) should be recognised as the authoritative list for civil parishes. These editions include corrigenda of earlier volumes.
3.4 WELSH PLACE NAMES
3.4.1 Contents of a place name
A place name may comprise the following components as appropriate to the area described:
3.4.2 Counties
Whether as a qualifier or in its own right, use the county name which is contemporary with the primary sources. Where this version is no longer current, cross-refer, using reciprocal see also (xx) cross-references, between it and the most recent form of name. The full county name should always be used (see Appendix 1, 3.8.3).
3.4.3 Linguistic variations
Place names in Wales generally fall within the following categories:
3.4.3A Places with a Welsh or English name only
for these establish the authorised name in the appropriate language.
3.4.3B Places with a Welsh name, which, through long administrative custom, are better known in most non-Welsh circles by an equivalent Anglicised version of that Welsh name:
3.4.3C Places with a Welsh name, which, through long administrative custom, are better known in non-Welsh circles by an alternative English name:
3.4.3D For names with both a Welsh and English version, parallel authorised forms of name should be established:
3.5 SCOTTISH PLACE NAMES
3.5.1 Contents of a place name
A place name may comprise the following components as appropriate to the area described:
3.5.2 Counties
Whether as a qualifier or in its own right, use the county name which is contemporary with the primary sources. Where this version is no longer current, cross-refer, using reciprocal see also (xx) cross-references, between it and the most recent form of name. The full county name should always be used (see Appendix 1, 3.8.5).
3.5.3 Civil parishes
The General Register Office’s Index of Scottish Place Names from 1971 Census with Location and Population (Edinburgh, HMSO, 1975) should be used as the authoritative list for civil parishes. The Index is published on a decennial basis but the 1971 version remains the most appropriate. Back to top
3.6 NORTHERN IRISH AND IRISH PLACE NAMES
3.6.1 Contents of a place name
A place name may comprise the following components as appropriate to the area described:
3.6.2 Counties
Whether as a qualifier or in its own right, use the county name which is contemporary with the primary sources. The full county name should always be used (see Appendix 1, 3.8.7).
3.6.3 Changes of name
3.6.3A Use the form of the name which is contemporary with the primary source. Where there has been a change of name but no change in geographical area, there should be reciprocal cross-references (see also (xx)) between the contemporary and the current name:
3.7 FOREIGN PLACE NAMES
3.7.1 Contents of a foreign place name
A foreign place name may comprise the following components:
3.7.2 Latitude and longitude
3.7.2A As grid references can be used to identify the location of place names in the British Isles, latitude and longitude are to be used to identify the location of place names elsewhere.
3.7.2B Place names should normally be identified to the nearest 5 minutes of latitude and longitude. It may sometimes be desirable to express locations more precisely, in which case positions may be given to the exact minute or second of a degree.
3.7.3 General rule for the formation of foreign place names
3.7.3A Use the form of the name contemporary with the primary sources. Where this version is no longer current, cross-refer, using reciprocal see also (xx) cross references, between it and the most recent form of name.
3.7.3B Variant names are forms of name in use concurrently. These may be bilingual forms both used in the country concerned (e.g. Bruxelles/Brussel), or versions of a place name which are better known in this country than the indigenous form (e.g. Cologne/Koln, Leghorn/Livorno). In English language contexts, the normal English version is to be preferred. Where variant names occur, cross-refer from the principal co-existing variants to the English version.
3.8 Appendix 1: Sources for the formation of place names
3.8.1 English county names
The names of pre-1974 English counties as they appear in the 1961 Census are: Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Cornwall, Cumberland, Derbyshire, Devon, Dorset, Durham, Essex, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, London, Middlesex, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Northumberland, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Rutland, Shropshire, Somerset, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Sussex, Warwickshire, Westmorland, Wiltshire, Worcestershire and Yorkshire.
For the period following 1963, the county of Greater London should also be used.
For the period 1974-1985, the names of metropolitan counties as they appear in the Local Government Act 1972 are: Greater London, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, West Midlands and West Yorkshire.
For the period 1974-1996, the names of English counties as they appear in the introduction to Bartholomew’s Gazetteer (1986) are authoritative. These are: Avon, Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Cleveland, Cornwall, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Devon, Dorset, Durham, East Sussex, Essex, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Hereford and Worcester, Hertfordshire, Humberside, Isle of Wight, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Northumberland, North Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Somerset, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Warwickshire, West Sussex and Wiltshire.
3.8.2 Sources for English place names
3.8.3 Welsh county names
The names of pre-1974 Welsh counties are: Anglesey, Brecknockshire, Caernarfonshire, Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Glamorgan, Merionethshire, Monmouthshire, Montgomeryshire, Pembrokeshire, Radnorshire.
The names of Welsh counties for the period 1974-1996 are: Clwyd, Dyfed, Gwent, Gwynedd, Mid Glamorgan, Powys, South Glamorgan, West Glamorgan.
For the period following 1 April 1996, the names of the Welsh unitary authorities are: Isle of Anglesey, Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly, City and County of Cardiff, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Gwynedd, Merthyr Tydfil, Monmouthshire, Neath Port Talbot, Newport, Pembrokeshire, Powys, Rhondda Cynon Taff, City and County of Swansea, Torfaen, Vale of Glamorgan, Wrexham.
3.8.4 Sources for Welsh place names
3.8.5 Names of Scottish counties, regions and unitary authorities
The names of the pre-1973 Scottish counties as they appear in the 1971 Census are: Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyllshire, Ayrshire, Banffshire, Berwickshire, Buteshire, Caithness-shire, Clackmannanshire, Dumfriesshire, Dumbartonshire, East Lothian, Fifeshire, Inverness-shire, Kincardineshire, Kinross-shire, Lanarkshire, Mid Lothian, Moray, Nairnshire, Orkney and Shetland, Peeblesshire, Perthshire, Renfrewshire, Ross and Cromarty, Roxburghshire, Selkirkshire, Stirlingshire, Sutherlandshire, West Lothian, Wigtownshire.
For the period after 1973, the names of the Scottish regions are: Borders, Central, Dumfries and Galloway, Fife, Grampian, Highland, Lothian, Strathclyde, Tayside, Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands and Western Isles.
For the period following 1 April 1996, the names of the Scottish unitary authorities are: City of Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, the Borders, Clackmannan, Dumbarton and Clydebank, Dumfries and Galloway, East Dumbartonshire, City of Dundee, City of Edinburgh, Falkirk, Fife, City of Glasgow, Highland, Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, East Lothian, Midlothian, West Lothian, Moray, Orkney Islands, Perthshire and Kinross, East Renfrewshire, Renfrewshire, Shetland Islands, Stirling, Western Isles.
3.8.6 Sources for Scottish place names
The School of Scottish Studies at the University of Edinburgh has for many years been compiling an authoritative Scottish Place-Name Survey. The Survey is available as a database.
3.8.7 Irish county names
The names of counties in Northern Ireland as they appear in the Census are: Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone.
The names of counties in the Irish Republic as they appear in the Census are: Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Cork, Donegal, Dublin, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laoighis, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford, Wicklow.
Unlike most counties in England and Wales, general usage may include the word ‘County’ as a prefix or a suffix.
3.8.8 Sources for Irish place names
As part of a comprehensive computerisation project, the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland has developed a geographical database which, for Northern Ireland, is based on the townlands listed in the 1961 Topographical Index.
3.8.9 Sources for foreign place names
3.9 Appendix 2: Alphabetical list of examples used the text
The following examples are restricted, where appropriate, to two components: the place name and a qualifier. Grid references, latitude and longitude as recommended in 3.1.3 have not been included here.
1 Jurisdictions which use the geographical name of the area covered should be dealt with as corporate bodies.
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2 For constructing the names of streets and buildings, local practice should be followed.
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3 By the London Government Act of 1963, the London Borough of Tower Hamlets replaced the Metropolitan Boroughs of Poplar, Stepney and Bethnal Green.
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4 This form is used by The Census of Population 1961: Topographical Index (Belfast, HMSO, 1962). The Gazetteer of Ireland (Dublin, 1989) prefers ‘Laois’.
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5 This is the form commonly used for the city by the Placenames Branch of the Ordnance Survey of Ireland.
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6 The 1871 (and the 1901) alphabetical Index cannot be wholly authoritative for the Irish Republic as subsequent to its publication, the English names for some places have been changed to the Irish form.
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