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.

Hackness

Major Settlement in the Parish of Hackness

Historical Forms

  • Hacanos 8 Bede
  • Heaconos 10 BedeOE
  • Hagenesse 1086 DB
  • Haganes 1176 P
  • Hakenesse c.1081–5 LVD48d 1354 Whitby
  • Hachanessa 1091–2 YCh 1133 Whitby
  • Hakanes 1108–14 Whitby
  • Hakenes(s) 1114–40,1145–8,1149–53,c.1180 Whitby 1227 FF 1234 Cl
  • Hachanes 1155–65 Whitby
  • Hakanessham 1314 NRS
  • Hakenasse 1385 Whitby
  • Haknas 1472 Test

Etymology

The forms of this name, apart from those in Bede, offer no great difficulty. They may be interpreted as the 'næssor headland of one Hac (c )a .' The form in Bede suggests that there was an earlier form of the second element, and Professor Ekwall suggests that there may have been an OE  nōs , cognate with Scand  nōs (cf. Torp, Nynorsk Etym. Ordbog , s.v. nôs ) bearing the same sense as næss . Hackness lies at the foot of a very prominent ridge projecting between the Derwent and Lowdales Beck.