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.

Paull

Major Settlement in the Parish of Paull

Historical Forms

  • Pagele 1086 DB
  • Pagela 1154–79 YCh 1167 P
  • Paghel 1086 DB 1348 Ipm
  • Paghell 1285 KI 1354 Ipm
  • Pahil 1249 YI
  • Pagana 1098–1102 YCh1300
  • Pakelea 1166 P
  • Pagla(m) 1115 YCh 1156-85 1160–81 RegAlb 1228 ib
  • Pagle 1265 Ch 1292 QW
  • Pagula(m) 1150–60 Melsa c.1400 Melsa
  • Pagul 1276 RH
  • Pagwel 1293 QW
  • Pawel 1316 NomVill
  • Paule 1329 FF 1549 et freq
  • Paull (in Holdernes) 1504 Bev 1511 Sanct
  • Pall 1542 NCWills

Etymology

There is no extant OE  or OScand  word which would explain the origin of Paull, but there is in Low German an illustrative series of words, ODu *pagil 'a little peg' (Franck), MDu  pegel 'a little knob,' LGer  pegel 'a stake,' all used to denote marks, LGer  pegel , for example, being used in particular of a stake to denote high-water mark. A late OE  unmutated *pagol related to these words is not improbable.

The meaning of pagol in Paull is probably 'stake'; as Paull is on the bank of the Humber it may have been some kind of landmark or guide-mark, as in Stakes Road infra 41. In Sx and K dialects paul , probably of similar origin, is 'a measure, a measure of land,' perhaps developed from the idea of 'stake' to 'boundary stake' or the like, just as ODan  raa , Norw  ran , both meaning 'pole' came to mean 'boundary mark' and so 'boundary' (cf. Rakær , Rankær , DaSN(Sj) iii, 76). v. Addenda lix.