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.

West Lilling, East Lilling

Major Settlement in the Parish of Sheriff Hutton

Historical Forms

  • Lilinge, Lilinga 1086 DB
  • Lilling(a) 1167 P 1202 FF 1295 For
  • West Lillinge 1282 YI
  • Estlillyng 1317 For

Etymology

'The settlement of Lilla and his dependants,' the name being originally a family name based on the OE  personal name Lilla ; v. ing . There is here no evidence for an OE  form Lillingas , 'the Lillings,' but in Yorkshire the nom. plur. ending -as in ing - names of this type fell into disuse at an early date. That this took place is clear from such names as Gilling (Ryed) and Pickering 53, 85infra . These names are much better evidenced in early spellings than Lilling and in them we have definite traces of the survival of the OE  plur. ending -as as ME  -es . The absence of this ending may be due to a certain extent to the original OE  form of the name being in the dat. plur. -um as in Bede's Ingetlingum .

Places in the same Parish

Early-attested site