The origin of every English city's name

In this video, I delve into the origins of the names of every city in England: from the mysterious story of London to the terrific tale of York.
❓What's so new about Newcastle?
❓What was Nottingham's disgusting former name?
❓Which is the only city named after a woman?
Join me as we travel through time to answer these questions and more.

CITY TIME CODES BELOW 👇

==RESOURCES==

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==CHAPTERS==
0:00 Introduction
1:01 London
1:53 Lincoln
2:24 Colchester
3:23 Chichester
3:28 Winchester
3:36 Manchester
3:50 Chester
4:07 Lancaster
4:17 Doncaster
4:29 Exeter
4:51 Leicester
5:25 Worcester
5:29 Gloucester
5:44 Norwich
6:16 Southampton
6:46 Wakefield
7:05 Stoke-on-Trent
7:20 Ground News
8:58 Cambridge
9:32 Oxford
9:50 Hereford
9:57 Chelmsford
10:14 Bradford
10:18 Salford
10:35 Coventry
10:50 Lichfield
11:04 Sheffield
11:21 Leeds
11:44 Kingtson-upon-Hull
12:22 Ripon
12:45 Ely
12:58 Portsmouth
13:14 Plymouth
13:26 Bath
13:48 Wells
13:58 Bristol
14:47 Liverpool
15:12 Canterbury
16:05 Salisbury
16:29 Peterborough
16:49 St Albans
17:22 Westminster
17:34 Preston
17:53 Birmingham
18:25 Wolverhampton
19:00 Brighton & Hove
19:34 Nottingham
20:14 Derby
21:10 York
21:57 Durham
22:27 Sunderland
22:57 Newcastle
23:34 Milton Keynes
24:28 Southend-on-Sea
24:45 Carlisle
25:09 Truro

[gilesfarmer]

Regarding the Normans not being able to pronounce Snottingham, so, Nottingham. Luckily for the people of Scunthorpe, they managed to resist the change.

[joemacleod-iredale]

London was named after the Londis at the petrol station that was the first building there.

[caseyhamm]

this is why the names of tolkien’s places feel so real. he does this for all the places in his books, considering the past and present people who live there and their history

[EmrahUncu]

I liked how Rob used different fonts for different nations who ruled Britain. I especially liked Times New Roman being used for Romans.

[robinmichel]

"Londinium, we have no idea what it means or where it came from." Off to a good start. 😂

[IronBridge]

It tickles me no end the simplicity of Newcastle’s name origin:
“Finally, we’ve finished the new castle!”
“What should we name it?”
“Not sure, but we’ll think of something eventually, so let’s just call it the Newcastle for now.”

[vangogh]

As someone from New England, this explained the meaning of some many local cities and towns. Thanks!

[krigsgaldr]

Ely makes total sense as "eel island" because during the Saxon/medieval period Ely used to be an island, surrounded by marshes and fenland which was extensively farmed for eels since the Neolithic period. That's over 3, 000 years of eel fishing so I'd say that deserves having a settlement named after the local industry.

[lottifuehrscheim]

As a Northern Dutchman interested in the Mediaeval past, I like these old English names, as they are often such close sisters of our Old-Dutch, Old-Frisian and Old-Saxon developments.

[rowleyma]

I'm from Massachusetts so hearing someone saying all these place names properly is refreshing!

[Liberated_from_Religion]

Your videos have become so professional. Congratulations! I can't even imagine how much work you have researching all this and then making the videos. They should be shown on TV. Thank you!

[adamdodd]

As someone who taught in Bristol, the sound change from Stowe may be even simpler. To this day, there is a tendency to add the letter ‘L’ to all sorts of words. Children would often tell me that they had an ideal, rather than an idea, and they would express these ideals, and other things, in their drawlin’s (for drawings). I have no idea why they do it, but it does make one L of a difference to the words they use.

[LiNoeliam]

I do believe I've become addicted to your videos. They are very interesting, informative and highly enjoyable - and you Sir, are very engaging. Bloody good show my friend! Keep 'em coming! ❤

[honestiago]

Growing up in Liverpool, we were taught that the Liver in Liverpool came from laver, the edible seaweed common in the area. The Liver Birds, symbols of the city, have branches of laver in their beaks.

[entropie]

You’ve explained quite a few cities here in the States too. Thanks!

[mattwash]

Each new RobWords video is like a piece of guilt-free chocolate cake delivered straight to the brain.

[ianbennett]

The Wetherspoons pub chain obviously think that Truro derives from "three rivers" as their Truro establishment is called "Try Dowr" - "Three Rivers" in Cornish.

[bttlemastr]

9:52 we actually also have a town named "Herford" in Germany, coming from Low German elements of the same meaning. If coined from standard German elements, it would be "Heerfurt" (compare Frankfurt).

[raindropsneverfall]

I grew up close to the Danish equivalent of Derby. In Danish, it is 'Dyrby'. Sunderland is easy for me to translate: It would be called 'Sønderland', and it means the same thing as you proposed.

'Dyr' in Danish just means animal today (if it's a noun).

[wyrdstone]

Loved Rob’s enthusiasm on the phrase “It’s Viking Time!”

I get a similar reaction from the wife when I get round to doing jobs around the house…… I thought doing those was all about keeping her happy, but her comment is always “It’s About Viking Time!!”

Or something like that…..