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.

Risby

Early-attested site in the Parish of Rowley

Historical Forms

  • Risbi 1086 DB
  • Risby 1828 Langd
  • Receby c.1130–40 YCh102
  • Resceby 1297 LS 1342 SR
  • Risebi, Riseby t.Hy2 YD 1316 NomVill
  • Rizebi 1166 P
  • Risceby, Rysceby 1228,1234 Ebor 1457 YD
  • Rischeby 1231 FF
  • Rytheby 1231 Ass
  • Risseby, Rysseby 1363 FF 1417 BevAct

Etymology

The medial ce , ze and sce generally represents the sound ts (from earlier ts , ðs or ds , generally the OScand gen. sing, in -s ).There is a rare OScand  nickname Rytr which would suit the forms, but in view of the 1231 spelling Rytheby it is not unlikely that Risby is of the same origin as Swedish Ryssby , 'farm near the clearing,' from OSwed  rydh 'clearing,' gen. sing. rytz , and by . Cf. ON  på -by 24. The few spellings with e for i may be due to the occasional lowering of i especially in the neighbourhood of r (cf. the spellings of Riplingham supra 204) or the association of ryð with the cognate OScand  rjóðr 'clearing.'

Places in the same Parish