Survey of English Place-Names

Etymology

In the first reference (1315 Pat) the manor is described as 'the manor of — Belestre , — commonly called Folye Jon'. This early name is identical with Bellister Nb. It is a French name, probably meaning 'pleasant sojourn', from bel2 and the infinitive ester 'to stand, to stop, to stay', a type of formation paralleled by Belvoir Lei, from bel and the infinitive vedeir ; v. M. Gelling, 'The Place-Name Bellister', Namn och Bygd 45 (1958), pp. 170–1. DEPN (4th ed.) suggests that the second el. is not the infinitive ester , but the noun estre 'place'.