Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Uthterby 1150–60 Gilb 1409

• Vthterbi l12 RAii

• Utterby Hy2 Gilb 1409 Welles c.1221 Fees 1242–43 Cl 1244 ValNor 1254 FF 1263 RH 1276 QW 1281 Ipm 1287 Tax 1291 Pat 1295 FA 1316

• Utterby iuxta Ormesby 1292 FF

• Utterbye 1551,1552 Pat 1567 Harm 1574 AD 1576 Saxton 1582,1589 BT

• Utterbie 1551 WillsStow 1562,1569 BT 1576 LER 1607 PM 1625 Terrier 1628 BT

• Uttirby 1343 NI 1413 Fine

• Uttyrby 1428 FA 1430 IngCt 1454 WillsPCCC

• Hutterby 1287 Ass

• Uterbi Hy3 Gilb 1409

• Uterb' 1238–43 Fees

• Vttrebi 1195,1197 P

• Vtrebi 1106 ChancR

• Vtreby 1288 Ass

• Vtterby e13 RAii 1209–35 LAHW 1272,1287 Ass 1292,1294 FF 1295 RAii 1297 CoramR 1327 SR 1328 Banco 1332 SR 1443 DCAcct

• Vterby 1295 RAii

Etymology

Ekwall (DEPN s.n.) interpreted this name as 'the outer farm, village', from a Scand. *Ytri -býr , this also being the etymology of Itterby in Bradley Wapentake LNR. He takes ON  ytri to have been subsequently replaced by the corresponding OE  ūterra 'outer, more remote'. It is, however, difficult to see what significance 'outer, more remote' has here, unless it should denote Utterby's relationship to North Ormsby. Dr John Insley suggests that it might be more plausible to suggest that initial Uth -, Vth - in the two earliest forms is an inverted spelling for Uht -. If this is the case, it may be suggested that the first el. is the OE  pers.n. *Ūhthere or Ūhtrēd . The spirant would have been lost through progressive assimilation, which could have been accompanied by shortening of the initial vowel. If we are concerned with OE  Ūhtrēd, a name which is relatively frequently attested in late Old English and early Middle English, the development would have been *Uhtrēdebȳ > Uhtreby > Utterby .