Coming up with original and culturally-themed names for locations can be a bit tricky sometimes. Whether you jump on your favourite name generator site and whip something up, jumble together some random syllables, or just pick a noun and slap "-ville" on the end, if you want things to sound consistent, you can build up some good naming conventions for what you're doing. If you look at the real world, these naming conventions have been built up by the cultures that have inhabited the area, and if you lean on these, it means you can use shared cultural assumptions to name a place something that sounds 'right', whether or not it is.
Looking at the areas of the United Kingdom that were once ruled by the Roman Empire, the names of many places go all the way back to Roman naming conventions. Here are a few, with examples, and their meanings, and ways you could incorporate them into your game: -bury or -borough (Avebury, Glastonbury, Edinborough): This meant a fortified enclosure, in Old English. Places with names like this might have wooden or stone palisades, or if the name is old, there might be an 'inner city' that was once the fortified area. -caster, -cester or -chester (Lancaster, Worcester, Rochester): Denotes a castle, from Latin. This might have been a single keep, or a larger castle. -ford (Bradford, Stafford): The place has a ford that crosses a river. These areas might be built around or on a large bridge. -ham (Buckingham, Tottenham): This comes from Old English, and means 'farm' or 'homestead. A town with this sort of name might have an extensive farming region. -hay (Cheslyn Hay): Actually refers to a hedge growing around an area, so it might be a large farm or estate, or might be some kind of Druidic enclave. -ington (Walmington): Refers to the people of a village. Likely to have been settled and grown from a small group of settlers and named for them. -mouth (Plymouth, Portmouth): Denotes a town at the mouth of a river, on the coast. -shire (Yorkshire): Denoting a larger region ruled by a Count. Likely to be a few towns or the region around a larger city. -stead (Hampstead): Means 'place' or 'enclosed pasture'. Something like this is likely to be a rural region. -ton (Brighton, Everton): Meaning 'estate'. Possible the domain of a noble family. -ville (Farmville, Shelbyville): From Norman settlers, meaning 'village' but earlier used to mean 'farm'. Again, likely to be rural. -wich (Droitwich, Norwich): Came from settlements with extensive trade and production of goods. Also posted on Game Masters Stash on 2 December 2021. Comments are closed.
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