English Place-name Society

Survey of English Place-Names

A county-by-county guide to the linguistic origins of England’s place-names – a project of the English Place-Name Society, founded 1923.

Mutley

Early-attested site in the Parish of Plymouth

Historical Forms

  • Modleia 1086 DB
  • Motlegh(e) 1311 Exon 1333 SR
  • Motelegh 1492 Ipm

Etymology

Perhaps a compound of OE  (ge)mot, 'meeting' and leah. Cf. in gemotleage BCS 476, to gemot leage BCS 1213.