Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Barnebi, Barneby 1086 DB 1166 P c.1185–93 Pont 1232 Ch 1202 FF 1428 FA

• Barneby super Done, Barneby on Done e.13 RegAlbiv,107 1290 Ebor 1316 Vill 1525 Testvi

• Barneby super Don, Barneby on Don, Barneby juxta Don 1276 RH 1280 Ass2d 1285 KI 1297 LS

• Barneby Folyot 1260 FF

• Barneby on Dun 1300 Baild

• Barneby on Doone 1530 YDi

• Barneby upon Dunne 1546 YChant 1592 FF

• Barnby super Don, Barnby on Don 1339 Ass2 1418 YDvi

• Barnby on Dun(e) 1470 Pat 1526 YDi 1531 Testiv

• Barmby super Done 1379 PT

• Barmby super Dunn 1641 Rates

• Barmeby sup' Done 1597 SessnR

• Barnbe upon Doune 1540 Bodl127

Etymology

Barnby is found several times, as Barnby 323infra , Barmby YE 184, 249 (OE  Bærnabi , Barnabi ), Barnby Moor Nt 67, etc. Almost invariably these names regularly have the spelling Barne - from the time of DB, and they have usually been derived from the rare ODan  Barni , which is, however, only a runic spelling of Bjarni (cf. Sahlgren, Saga och Sed (1945) 29 ff, DaGP s.n., Feilitzen 192); Ekwall (SNPh ii, 29 ff) would prefer to derive these p.ns. and others like Barnburgh 80 and Barnbow (Barwick) pt. iv, which present similar problems, from ON  Bjarni (ODan  Biarni , OSwed  Biærne ) with Barne as a regularly developed Anglo-Scandinavian variant of Berne (recorded in DB for Y), perhaps reinforced by the common AN  spelling -ar - for -er - (cf. Armley iii, 210); the OE  spelling Bærnabi for Barnby YE 249 would rather support this. We may interpret these names as 'Bjarni's farmstead or village', v. bȳ . The affixes Dun (from R. Don) and Folyot (from the family of Richard Folyot 1260 FF 119) are added to distinguish this place from Barnby Moor Nt 67.