Owlswick
Early-attested site in the Parish of Monks and Princes Risborough
Historical Forms
- Wulueswik c.1200 Miss 14th
- Ulueswike c.1200 Miss 14th
- Ulueswicke 1227 Ass
- Wulueswyk 1242 Fees875
- Olueswik 1247 Ass 1284 FA
- Ulueswyk 1262 Ass
- Ulfysyke 1262 Ass
- Ulveswyke 1541 LP
- Owleswicke 1617 L.ii.424
Etymology
'Dairy-farm' (v. wic ) of Wulf or Úlfr , the forms from early times showing hesitation between the English and Scandinavian forms of this name. Wulf , uncompounded, is rarely found as a personal name before the Conquest, and it is far from common afterwards. Ulf , from ON Úlfr , is one of the commonest pers. names in the 11th and 12th cents. It therefore seems probable that the present name is late and that it contains the Scandinavian Ulf , Anglicised for a time to Wulf by the surrounding English population. The name may be even later than the Conquest, by which time many men bearing Scandinavian names were holding estates in Buckinghamshire.