Names of Rivers:Etymology

MiniMoon, I'd choose 'wild'. I can imagine a time when a mother would warn her child not to play in the wild wood, when wild woods were seriously dangerous.

Joseanne wrote:

"Lots of river names just seem to mean "water". We also have the River Exe near us, which comes from isca, the Roman name for water. From that we also got the River Axe."

What a useful bit of info for me! Isca sounds almost the same as the Gaelic for water. It's said that the most important words persist through massive movements of peoples.

What about the River Piddle? 😂

Lots of river names just seem to mean "water". We also have the River Exe near us, which comes from isca, the Roman name for water. From that we also got the River Axe.

As a child I played with my friends in Gelt Woods. The name Gelt has two possible origins. One from old Brittonic meaning wild, the other from old norse for gold. We never found any gold there though.

(River)Oose is same sound as the French for 'water'. Eaux.

Joseanne

I like the sound of River Oooze!

It does just that. 😁

It flows sluggishly through the flat lands of East Anglia, but when it rains the river -well oozes- all over the fields, turning the whole area into a giant lake😱

I like the sound of River Oooze!

Romany is often particularly close to proto-Indo-European. I looked up a chart with translations of common words such as 'water' and 'father' into p-I-E, and a few modern European languages including Romany.

Avon is almost the same as the Gaelic word for water. I can imagine the old peoples were so bound to their own local land they never go anywhere far from their work on the land, and so the local river is simply "the water".

Scots and Irish Gaelic are very alike, and are more distantly related to Welsh, Cornish, and Breton.

i assumed that was an archaeological reference.

Dog not dig !

It is so beautiful , Namsnanny .
I really miss it !
I think that I miss the simple way of life -lots of farming ,dig walking and riding and no TV .

My daughter lives like that now , but in Yorkshire .

Caleo - could well be the origin of Wye .
Don't mind Esmee !

Hanwell.
i'm on a roll now.
i once worked out the numbering system for the London postal districts, but could only manage one quadrant completely.
get lost a bit around the others, but keep trying, without looking anything up, as i think it helps mental agility.

i noticed how in the land rising to the north of London, so many place names begin with H, eg,
Horsenden Hill, Harrow, Hendon, Hampstead, Highgate, Hornsey, Harringay, Highbury,

Yes I am intrigued by all place and river names. My nearest river is the Allan Water - Wikipedia says: that the name Allan is of Pre-Celtic Indo-European origin. Its original form was Alauna, from the Indo-European root *el-/ol-, meaning "to flow, to stream". Several European rivers and settlements have names that may come from that root.
Mouth: River Forth

Allan Water - Wikipedia

Sorry! Esmay.

Esme, I wonder if the winding river Wye is associated with 'wyvern 'as a winding dragon like creature .

I must go now as I have to get ready for visitors but I hope you will all keep posting about place names.

All names of physical features interest me. Towns and villages may come and go but rivers have always been useful for transport especially when land was impenetrable, so river names are often very ancient.

Sorry, I forget who listed all these Welsh river names that are so similar. This is just what I wanted to go with my favourite theory that special sorts of rivers' names come from the ancient Sanscrit proto- European root , meaning 'surging, strong' and are 'T' names of which there are a great many.

Other names to go with the Welsh ones are Thames, Tay, Tees, Tweed. The ancient settlers of the Islands were pre Celtic but the rivers names persisted partly because people thought rivers were powerful living things.
(I got a lot of this stuff from one of my favourite books)

tavas, तवस् a. Ved. 1 Old. -2 strong, great. -n. Strength, power (बल); सोमस्य मा तवसं वक्ष्यग्ने

I live in Germany on the Rhine, so it's easy here. Everything comes from the name the Romans gave it - towns, rivers and regions alike.

My home in the UK was in Suffolk and now you've got me wondering about the Orwell and the Deben.

The Mimram in Hertfordshire is an intriguing name that no one seems to know the origin or meaning of.

Such a beautiful area Esmay

My favourite river is the Wye as I spent a lot of time playing with my cousins in the broad shallows .
The origin of the name isn't known -possibly from the Welsh .
Origins of names intrigue me .

Avalon. There are a number of Celtic languages. Welsh, Cornish and Breton derive from the Brythonic language, whilst Scots Gaelic and Irish are from the Goedelic one.

You're right caleo it's interesting when you start questioning original meanings. Here in the south east we have many towns ending in den, or hurst or bury and you've got me investigating those.