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.

Moseley

Early-attested site in the Parish of King's Norton

Historical Forms

  • Museleie 1086 DB
  • Moselege, Moseley 1221,1262 Ass 1494,1511 ADiv 1549 Pat
  • Mousley 1577 Saxton

Etymology

This lies on high ground with gravel, so apart from phonological difficulties, OE  mos is unlikely. Professors Ekwall and Zachrisson suggest OE  mūs (a )-lēage , 'field-mouse or field-mice clearing' (v. leah ). A pers. name Mūsa is also possible, cf. Robertus filius Muse in an Assize Roll of 1219. See further Mansion, Oudgentsche Namenkunde (88), on a Flemish name Muse or Musa . The name may have been influenced in its development by the more common type found in Moseley supra 128.