-hay (place name element)
-hay (also hays, hayes, etc.) is a place-name word-ending common in England. It derives from the Old English word hege[1] or haga,[2] Middle English heie,[3] in Icelandic hagi,[2] meaning "an enclosed field", and is from the same root as the English word "hedge", a structure which surrounds and encloses an area of land,[4] from the Norman-French haie, "a hedge".[5] Haw (from O.E. haga) and Hay (from O.E. hege) are cognate and both mean "hedge".[3]
Examples
[edit]- Cheslyn Hay, Walsall, meaning "a fenced or hedged enclosure", here perhaps around an ancient cromlech or burial-mound.[1]
- Pipe Hayes ("hedges"), Erdington.[6]
Derbyshire
[edit]In the vicinity of Derbyshire:
- Floyer Hayes
- Cotmanhay
- Idridgehay
- Lower Hartshay
- Marehay
- Parsley Hay
- The Findern Hays
- Upper Hartshay
Devon
[edit]Exeter
[edit]In the vicinity of Exeter:
- Floyer Hayes
- Northern Hay
- Southern Hay
- Shill Hay
- Fryers Hay
- Bon Hay
- Princesshay
Tiverton
[edit]In the vicinity of Tiverton:
- Moor Hayes, Cullompton
- Passmore Hayes
- Buck Hayes
- Rashleigh Hayes
- Gorn Hay
- Wid Hayes
- Moor Hayes, Washfield
See also
[edit]- Hayes (surname), sometimes derived from this topological source
Sources
[edit]- Johnston, Rev. James B., The Place-Names of England and Wales, London, 1915, p. 147 [2]