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.

Plymouth

Major Settlement in the Parish of Plymouth

Historical Forms

  • Plymmue 1230 Lib 1254 Worth
  • Plymmuth 1318 Misc
  • Plympmouthe 1353 Ass
  • Plummuth 1281 Ass 1318 Misc
  • ad portum de Plummuth 1331 Orig
  • Plummouthe 1377,1384 Exon
  • Plumpmuth 1307 Cl
  • Pleymuth 1292 Pat
  • Plemmuth 1297 Pat 1350 Cl
  • Plemmewe 1322 Pat
  • Sutton Prior vulgariter Plymmouth nuncupatur c.1450 Oliver

Etymology

v. Plym river supra 12. The earliest forms refer to the harbour and estuary, the older name for the parish being Sutton infra 236.