House Names and Social Change: Today, you’ll find most detached bungalows, town houses and cottages have names. We love to add that personal touch onto where we happen to be living. And why not? Anything that makes our abode feel more like a home has to be a good thing.
And it’s not a new thing either. Not when you look back social history and find that even from the earliest recorded days, people have adopted names for their houses. Take a look at one of the first-ever poems written in English, for instance. Called Beowulf, it mentions a house (the mead hall) by the name of Heorot. And that was published way back in the early 11th century!
House naming rules in 13th and 14th century
Moving several hundred years on from Beowulf’s publication, there were obvious rules for the naming of houses. Houses, according to convention at the time, could be named after the person living in it, that person’s occupation, or what the house looked it. There was even a bit of a fashion for emblematic names.
This can all be backed up from records of old London house names. These were a mix of Latin, French, Anglo-Norman, and Old English – all of which later became the English language that we know today.
Examples of 13th century houses named after their inhabitant include Gladewyneshouse and Hiotha’s manor-house.’
Then again, examples of 14th century homes named after the householder’s occupation include le Webbeloft ‘and la fforge. Those named after their appearance (still in the 14th century), include le Crokedhous and le Grenegate.
Houses named after emblems include those you can still find in pub names today, such as le Swan, Le Dolfyn, Le Harpe, le Tonne and le Panyer.
Moving on several centuries again and it became a trend in Europe during the Enlightenment to name your house after a state of mind. Frederick the Great, of Prussia, for instance, named one of his many palaces, Sans Souci (No Worries).
Railways led to new house naming convention
It was the introduction and expansion of the railways that really changed how houses in Britain were named though. Arriving in the 1840s, the steam engine created quicker access across the country. This, of course, resulted in the sprouting up of what we have come to know today as ‘the suburbs’.
And that meant lots of new houses to name by their new inhabitants, many of whom considered themselves upwardly mobile. And, indeed, a new middle class was forming, hence the desire to have a name for the personal pile of bricks and mortar they could now happily call home.
So, what did this new social class call their homes? Well, there were rural names, such as Elm Tree Cottage, Hillcrest and Orchard House, as well as those names associated with the nobility, such as Grosvenor Lodge. Some householders preferred to name their abodes after names from popular culture, such as the book Ivanhoe. Others joked by calling their house Dunroamin (ie done roaming) – and which some houses in Scotland are still called to this day. Another joke house name was Ersanmine (hers and mine).
The Victorians also introduced a new category when it came to house naming – that of mixing up previous names to make a new one. This includes examples such as Roselea and Ferncroft.
‘Cultural agreement’ to house naming
Dr Laura Wright in her book ‘Sunnyside: A Sociolinguistic History of British House Names’ says: “Just as the common given names Robert, Alice, William, Emma, Richard, Geoffrey have remained popular across the British social classes since they were introduced by the Anglo-Normans in 1066, there has been a cultural agreement across all social classes with regard to house-naming.”
House names, the historical linguist at the University of Cambridge goes on to say, ‘transcend local language boundaries’ and as such, are a record of social history and the movement of people.
Practice of naming homes declining
But the bad news is, according to Wright, is that the practice of naming houses actually began to decline by the middle of the 20th century. That’s because more apartment blocks went up, social housing became endemic and people started to rent rather than buy (due to the rising cost of property).
And perhaps it’s that last reason – the growing cost of housing in the UK – that’s really been the clincher, especially when you realise that house prices rose a staggering 152% between 1995 and 2016.
Get in touch
Thinking of naming your own house but not quite sure how to? Then get in touch for advice and help here at Name My House. Tel: 0208 017 2216 or email via info@namemyhouse.co.uk