Names of Rivers:Etymology

I am interested in the etymology of all geographical names, not just rivers. And how different waves of immigration influenced that.

Me. I’m interested 😁

I've always been interested in words as such, names of places and rivers are a part of this for me.

My nearest river is the Trent, and its name may mean that it is prone to flooding. Apparently, it also divides the north from the south of England.

Yes, I am interested in the names of British Rivers. Many of them are I think, are anglicized versions of old Celtic names. I believe that the River Thames is one. One that is definitely Welsh is the River Avon . Avon (pronounced Afon in Welsh) is the Welsh for River. So linguistically the meaning of the River Avon is river river.
I have always been struck by the number of quite long rivers in South Wales that start with the letter T. Tawe, Teifi, Towy and Taf. But I don't know the answer to this unfortunately.

I was at school near the River Quaggy in London . I always wondered where the name came from.

The River Severn was once called Sabrina by the Romans after the water nymph who lived there according to old celtic legends.
The Welsh call it Hafren and in saxon times it was known as Saefern.
I rather like the name Sabrina.

I once read (somewhere so sorry I can't provide evidence) that the oldest river name in the UK is the Humber. I remember them saying that it came from the pre-Celtic language 'hu...mb...r. It means something like good wet. It stuck in my mind because the Humber is one of my local rivers.

Avon is from the Celtic for river so not only Welsh.

We live on the River Otter and I had always assumed that was from the creatures we see swimming in it. As it turns out, the word "otter" apparently comes from old English and just means "water". River Water!

Place names in general interest me. So much history attached. The river near our house was known as Belisama by the Romans and revered as a Celtic goddess.

I always walk down and greet her when the year turns.

We live close to the Danelaw border- so geographical names jump from Danish origin, to Saxon, or Roman. Once you know, it is easy to recognise.

I like names too, of places with the meaning in two or more languages. Like Houghton-on-the-Hill. High town - and then 'on the hill' - same meaning twice.

All the names ending in 'by' are Danish, same as those in 'thorpe' - but 'ton' is anglo-saxon.

I’m fond of the river Ouse.

A triumph of onomatopoeia 😬

Not quite the same, but pubs were always used as common points of direction, if you go back far enough.
Therefore I hate it when the names are changed. It's a break from their past use.

I've often wondered how the river Teign got it's name and still have no idea, and why is it spelled like that, I wonder?

My DH has a fascination for old maps we have a lot of them. They are very interesting and show the old names of towns cities and rivers and waterways.
Our river is the Mersey it’s name is Anglo- Saxon apparently Maeres- ea meaning border river. The border being between the kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. Such an interesting subject history and the old names I find fascinating.

I found this on the quagga nanna8
qwag.org.uk/river-quaggy/

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.

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.

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 .

Such a beautiful area Esmay

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

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.

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

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.