Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Friston(e), Fristona, Fryston 1086 DB 1154 YCh c.1160 Pont 1166 RBE 1204 ChR c.1215 Pont 1246 FF 1246 YI 1522 Testvi

• Fere Fryston 1542 FF

• Ferrie Fryston 1605 FF

• Freston 1300 Ebor

• Ferry Freiston 1535 VE

• Freyston 1538 FF

• Ferefrieston 1597 FF

• Ferry Freeston 1654 ParlSurv

Etymology

The compound recurs in Water Fryston infra and Monk Fryston pt. iv infra . For the latter there are two OE  spellings; one (Fryyetune ) is in an unreliable thirteenth century copy and is a mis-transcription of OE  Frysetune or Frygetune (or possibly Fryþetune , which is adopted in BCS 1112 and by Ekwall, DEPN s.n.); the second (Fristun ) is from a reliable eleventh-century document. Since all other spellings point to an OE  Frīstun , Birch's reading Fryþetune should be rejected. Although a pers.n., OE  Frisa or ON  Frisi , might be thought of for the first el., the fact that there are these three YW examples and others in L and Sf points rather to the name meaning 'farmstead of the Frisian(s)', v. Frīsa , tūn .The regular absence of a medial -e - in the spellings of the YW names is paralleled by many other compounds with racial- names like OE  Fresland , etc. (cf. EPN ii, 116, s.v. Seaxe ); cf. also the uninflected forms in Bretton 99supra , Normanton 121infra .It may be noted that most p.ns. containing Frīsa seem to belong to the Viking period (cf. Introd.). For the affix in Ferry Fryston, v. Ferrybridge infra .