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.

Bunny

Major Settlement in the Parish of Bunny

Historical Forms

  • Bonei 1086 DB
  • Bonei(a) 1108 Dugdv t.Ed2 P 1175 Pap 1205
  • Bonai t.Hy2 Ch 1356
  • Boney(e) c.1225 Wollaton 1242 Fees 1251 Ch 1270 Ebor 1284,1302 FA
  • Buneya 1227 Ebor
  • Bunneya 1231 ib
  • Bunney 1576 FF
  • Bunney al. Boney 1684 Recov
  • Bony al. Bunny 1718 ib
  • Boneyris 1330 Ass
  • Bonney al. Bonnyrise 1572 FF
  • Bonney Reyce 1582 Moulton

Etymology

The first element is OE  būne , 'reed, rush.' Hence 'rush-grown marshland,' v. eg . There is flat marshland to the west of the village. For Boneyris , etc. cf. Rise Fm supra 141. The name must have referred to some place in the parish overgrown with brushwood.

Places in the same Parish