Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Tranemul l12 Mainw 1202–10 Sheaf

• Tranemul (to 15 AD), Tranmul 1250–55 Orm2

• Tranmul, Tranmull(e) 1594 ChRR

• Tranmull in Wyrall 1423 AD

• Tranmul alias Tranmore 1594 ChRR

• Tramull 1587 Orm2

• Tramull alias Tranmore 1594 ib

• Tranemol e13 AddCh

• Tranemol 1417 Orm2

• Tranmol 1266 ib

• Tranmoll 1716 ib

• Tranmore alias Tranmoll 1598 ChRR

• Tranmoll alias Tranmore 1595 AD 1716 Orm2

• Tranmole alias Tranmore 1613 ib

• Thranmolle 1534–47 Dugd

• Trammole alias Trammore 1545 Pat

• Tranemor 1260 Court

• Tranemor 1560 Sheaf

• Tranmor freqfrom1352 Plea

• Tranmore 1843 TAMap

• Tranmore in Wyrehale 1439 ChRR

• Tranmor in Worall 1564 Sheaf

• Tranmoll alias Tranmor(e) 1587,1595 AD

• Tranmore alias Tranmoll 1598 ChRR

• Tranmoore 1569,1714 Sheaf

• Tranemel 1290 Ipm

• Tranmell, Trammell 1537 Sheaf

• Traunmoll 1307–27,1554 Orm2

• Tranemoels 1318–99 ChRR 1398 Orm2

• Tranmer' 1393 Orm2

• Tranmere 1587 J.E.A. 1716 Orm2 1724 NotCestr 1819 Orm2

• Tranmur 1396 JRC

• Tranmour 1398 Add

• Tranemoele 1398 ChRR

• Trannenoll 1510 Sheaf

• Tramnol 1524 ChRR

• Trandmor 1576 AD

• Trenmole alias Trenvile 1600 Orm2

• Tranmols 1605 Plea

• Trawmore 1621 Orm2 1656

• Tronmere 1655 Sheaf

• Tramour 1660 CroR

Etymology

'Cranes' sandbank', v. trani (gen.pl. trana ), melr . This derivation appears in DEPN. In correspondence with the Society, October 1937, Mr J. E. Allison objected to Ekwall's derivation that whereas the modern village and town centres upon the lost hamlet of Hinderton (Lower Tranmere 19) infra , the ancient nucleus of the township was upland (Higher Tranmere 19) and would hardly be a sandbank.This circumstance probably inspired Helsby's derivation, Welsh Tre-yn -Moel 'hill-village' (not Welsh, makes no sense and does not fit the spellings). The development of the final el. here presents difficulties, however. Professor Sørensen hazards that, in view of the many old spellings in -mul , -mol , the second el. might be ON  mǫl (~ melr) 'mound of pebbles, especially along the shore', which is probably the first el. in the name of the Danish peninsula Mols.But the development of melr in Tranmere reflects that noted under Meols, v. 297infra , with the further complication of an assimilation of r –l > l –l , whence Tran (e )mel > Tran (e )mer and Tran (e )mol , Tran (e )mul > Tran (e )mor . Tranmere township is named from a feature of its Mersey coastline, not from the location of its late-medieval nucleus. An interesting reversal of orientation is apparent, between the name of the township taken from a coastline feature, and the name of the shore-side hamlet Hinderton which is relative to the upland settlement. Mr Allison also objected that since the whole Mersey shore of Wirral would have been rock and sand there would have been no reason for the cranes to single out this particular part of it. The p.n. proves that they did and that is rather a problem of oecology than of toponymy. Orm2 ii 450–451 supposes Tranmere is to be identified with Sumreford DB f.267b, but cf. Somerford Booths 163.