# Spelling of an English place name
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-an-english-place-name/976102
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [December 6, 2022, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-an-english-place-name/976102 "2022-12-06T18:21:49Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2022, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-an-english-place-name/976102/1 "2022-12-06T18:21:49Z")
Somewhere around London, maybe on the way to one of the airports, there’s a place pronounced “Fanshaw” or something close to that, but spelled ~~Throat Warbler Mangrove~~ Featheringstonehaugh or something like that.
What’s the place I’m thinking of?
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2022, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-an-english-place-name/976102/2 "2022-12-06T18:23:27Z")
You almost had it.
> **[Featherstonhaugh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Featherstonhaugh)**
>
> Featherstonhaugh (/ˈfænʃɔː/ FAN-shaw) (also spelt Fetherstonhaugh and Featherstonehaugh) is an English surname. The name comes from Featherstonhaugh in Northumberland, from the Old English feðere, 'feather', stān, 'stone', and healh, 'corner'.
> Notable people with this surname include:
Though the place named Featherstonhaugh is not near London. (And looks like is now called Featherstone, anyway.) Maybe there’s something Featherstonhaugh related near London, like a street or something?
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### Author:  [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2022, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-an-english-place-name/976102/3 "2022-12-06T18:27:23Z")
> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> Featherstonhaugh
Yeah, I can’t find any place with that name in the UK at all. I wonder what I was thinking of.
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### Author:  [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2022, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-an-english-place-name/976102/4 "2022-12-06T18:36:38Z")
Have you tried the Wikipedia page for UK places with irregular spelling?
(the preview talks about just suffixes, but an actual list starts below)
> **[List of irregularly spelt places in the United Kingdom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_irregularly_spelt_places_in_the_United_Kingdom)**
>
> This is a sublist of List of irregularly spelled English names.
> These common suffixes have these regular pronunciations, yet would be counterintuitive (irregular) in normal English:
> Prefixes:
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### Author:  [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2022, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-an-english-place-name/976102/5 "2022-12-06T18:50:59Z")
That’s a great page.
I was probably talking to a friend about Chiswick and he mentioned Feathersonhaugh. Thanks, everyone! SDMB comes through again!
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2022, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-an-english-place-name/976102/6 "2022-12-06T19:22:46Z")
Just to keep the record straight, in the July 9, 1988, Straight Dope column (“Why is ‘colonel’ pronounced ‘kernel’”), Cecil spells it Feather **ING** stonehaugh, which may account for whatever ensuing confusion ensued. Feel free to notify Cecil and correct him. Set your affairs in order first.
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### Author:  [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2022, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-an-english-place-name/976102/7 "2022-12-06T19:36:47Z")
Haha! I will never question @Cecil_Adams.
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### Author:  [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2022, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-an-english-place-name/976102/8 "2022-12-07T15:20:39Z")
In a column entitled “An Englishman’s Name is his Castle,” from (I think) _Life_ magazine circa the early 1970s, the author gave numerous examples of the unexpepcted pronunciations of many English family and place names. (I’m pretty sure this was before Monty Python’s Throatwarbler Mangrove bit.)
I _think_ I had come across Featherstonehaugh before that in reading P.G. Wodehouse, whose character Ukridge has that as a middle name. And I _think_ my father had explained that it was pronounced Fanshaw.
What I learned from the column was that different branches of the Featherstonehaugh family pronounce it differently (of course), and that while Fanshaw may be more common, other people say Festonhay or Feerstonhaw.
(What I also learned from trying to find the original article is that, without remembering, I wrote a nearly identical post here 17 years ago.)
> [@Do Brits sometimes change pronunciation of their names for social climbing?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-brits-sometimes-change-pronunciation-of-their-names-for-social-climbing/337504/6):
>
> Fan-shaw is the most common pronunciation of Feathersonehaugh. But some branches of the family use Fes-ton-hay and others Feer-ston-haw.
> [@Do Brits sometimes change pronunciation of their names for social climbing?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-brits-sometimes-change-pronunciation-of-their-names-for-social-climbing/337504/20):
>
> My cite for the variant pronunciations of Featherstonehaugh was an article that appeared in Life magazine (I think) sometime in the late 1960s or early '70s, called “An Englishman’s Name is His Castle.” It humourously examined the unexpected pronunciations of British names, many of which are well known (Leicester pronounced Lester, Worcester pronounced Wooster, etc.) Another of the other family name examples it gave was Cholmondley, pronounced Chumley. The author theorized that if Minnesota we…
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### Author:  [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2022, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-an-english-place-name/976102/9 "2022-12-07T21:20:52Z")
Re the pronunciation of English place names, and the problems this causes for Americans, here’s a fine Dave Gorman joke.
In this instance, it’s about the notoriously unpredictable “ough” letter combination occurring not once, but twice, in a name. The background you need: Loughborough University is a center of sports excellence. Academic excellence …mmm, not so much. It is pronounced Luff Burra.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRjlrv7lwAo)
j
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2022, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-an-english-place-name/976102/10 "2022-12-07T21:46:52Z")
There is an actress (from one of those non-Ahnold Terminator flix) name of Moon Bloodgood. Three different pronunciations for the “oo” sound.
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### Author:  [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2022, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-an-english-place-name/976102/11 "2022-12-08T00:20:57Z")
Pardon the hijack
Then there’s
# Longest Place Name in Wales – of Llanfair: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch!
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2022, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-an-english-place-name/976102/12 "2022-12-08T01:05:57Z")
[Bob and Ray have something to say:](https://www.google.com/search?q=Bob+and+Ray%3A+abernathy+&ei=QjeRY_a5DMa3qtsPspqCuA8&ved=0ahUKEwj24reL6ej7AhXGm2oFHTKNAPcQ4dUDCBA&uact=5&oq=Bob+and+Ray%3A+abernathy+&gs_lcp=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-gAmDHxgJoAXAAeAGAAe8BiAGzIZIBBzI3LjE1LjKYAQCgAQHAAQHaAQYIARABGBQ&sclient=gws-wiz-serp#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:0f43b45e,vid:UJZFz1Z6TQA)
“Abernathy”
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2022, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-an-english-place-name/976102/13 "2022-12-08T01:29:36Z")
Paraphrasing Dave Barry: The Vikings stole all the vowels from the Welsh language; It’s sad to hear Welsh parents singing good-night songs to their children, example – 🎵 Old MacDonald had a farm 🎶, and then they just lapse into silence. ☹
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### Author:  [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2022, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-an-english-place-name/976102/14 "2022-12-08T10:54:28Z")
I love Dave Barry! That’s awesome.
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### Author:  [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2022, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-an-english-place-name/976102/15 "2022-12-08T12:54:32Z")
I live not far from Magdalen Laver, which is pronounced Maudlin Layver.
The parish church is St Mary Magdalen, but pronounced the usual way. So the full church name has the same word pronounced in 2 different ways.
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### Author:  [@Oswald\_Bastable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oswald_Bastable)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2022, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-an-english-place-name/976102/16 "2022-12-08T18:27:19Z")
Another interesting pronunciation anomaly - the names (which can be both given or surnames), ‘St John’ and ‘St Claire’ are often pronounced ‘Sinjen’ and ‘Sinclair’ respectively. This may be true of other St names as well, but they’re the two I’m aware of.
OB
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### Author:  [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2022, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-an-english-place-name/976102/17 "2022-12-09T02:26:26Z")
John Wellington Wells of _The Sorcerer_ gave his address as “Number Seventy [Simmery Axe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Mary_Axe).”
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### Author:  [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2022, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-an-english-place-name/976102/18 "2022-12-09T02:36:54Z")
A yank and a Brit met and were discussing places they had visited in each other’s country.
The Yank described how he had really enjoyed visiting Wor-ces-ter. The Brit responded, “Oh, you must have gone to Wooster.”
The Yank then mentioned that he had in-laws in Chol-mon-de-ley. After a few minutes of confusion, the Brit responded, “Oh, Chumly.”
A bit frustrated, the Yank went on to speak of his visit to Lei-ces-ter-shire, at which point the Brit corrected him “It’s Lestershir.”
When the Brit began describing his visit to the States, he began with his delight at seeing Niagara Falls. The Yank responded, “Where?” “Niagara Falls.” “Oh” responded the frustrated Yank, “you must mean Niffles.”
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### Author:  [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2022, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-an-english-place-name/976102/19 "2022-12-09T02:37:48Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#):
>
> “Why is ‘colonel’ pronounced ‘kernel’”
And where did the ‘F’ come from in “Leff-tenant” (lieutenant).
In a book I read years back (The Cat Who Walked Through Walls), the claim was made that “Taliaferro” was pronounced “Tolliver”. Dunno if that’s true or not, as it’s the only place I’ve ever heard / read that.
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2022, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-an-english-place-name/976102/20 "2022-12-10T00:31:57Z")
My mother’s side of the family has some Tollivers in it and, FWIW, they all say it was Taliaferro until they stepped off the boat.
BTW – Taliaferro means (roughly) “the iron (read:sword) of Italy.”
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