Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Couentrehey 1403 MinAcct

• Coventreland 1445 WCR1

Etymology

Coventry (lost), 1839ValS , Couentrehey 1403MinAcct , Coventreland 1445WCR 1. Since (ge)hæg 'enclosure' is often combined with surnames in this region, the first el. in the early spellings may be Coventry (derived from Coventry Wa 160) used as a surname. But there is a dial. word coven-tree noted from Bk and W (and from Du  in the form cobin-tree ), used of the shrub Viburnum lantana , the guelder-rose (EDD s.v.). The word is recorded in this sense from a. 1697 and as an error for coyntre 'quince' from c. 1450 (NED).One may ask if Coventry Wa is not in fact a name of similar origin, though it is usually derived from an OE  pers.n. Cofa and trēow.There are also a lost name Coventree (1623 PR Bid ) in the neighbourhood of Bradford, and Coventree (Dent) pt. vi infra ; the repetition of the p.n. suggests that we have to deal with a significant word.