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.

Gowthorpe

Early-attested site in the Parish of Bishop Wilton

Historical Forms

  • Geutorp, Gheuetorp 1086 DB
  • Gugetorp 1166 RBE
  • Guggetorp 1166 LN
  • Gout(h)orp 12th YD 13th Kirkham 1203 FF 1399 ADi
  • Goukthorp 1235 Ebor
  • Gauthorp 1276 Ch
  • Gow(e)thorpe 1298 YI 1379 ADi
  • Gow(e)thrope 1575 FF

Etymology

'Gauk 's village,' or 'cuckoo village,' v. þorp . The first element is OScand  gaukr , also used as a nickname, recorded in ME  as the surname Gouk (cf. Lindkvist 140). The same compound may occur in Gowthorpe infra 244, and it certainly occurs in Gowthorpe (Nf, La, WRY) and Gawthorpe (WRY).

Places in the same Parish