What’s In A Name?
Yes, some names have ‘baggage’ – more than one commonly understood meaning. (For example, other than meaning vomit, ‘spew’ is a sort-of bloom of fat that sometimes comes to the surface on leather.) And, yes, some names have relatively narrowly understood meanings, known only to a few. (Think in terms of playground or workplace nicknames and similar.) But when it comes to places I think most names are relatively neutral, especially if they’re long-established. I think that’s certainly the case with Caversham.
Historically, there’s been plenty of research into the name Caversham’s origins – but I don’t think any of them bring much with them in the way of associations. There are plenty of options as to the name’s spelling, with Cawsham, Causeiam, Cawsome, Cavers-ham and Caversha the most common, but in my (limited) experience it seems spelling has always been pretty fluid across the centuries. That there are all these variations doesn’t seem surprising, and it doesn’t mean there have been variations in meaning.
To go back to the question I started with – ‘What’s in a name?’- some aspects of the name might have some ‘historical baggage’. If you look at the Cavers-ham spelling, ‘ham’ is generally taken as being a Saxon word for ‘home’, and so Cavers-ham would be saying the area is the home of the Cavers people. So, there’s possibly something to be learned or believed there. But … I find myself stuck for any huge significance about any of this. I mean, so what that the Cavers people once lived here.
And so, really, now, I’m thinking that Caversham is simply a place name – no more, no less. What’s most important about a place name is that it’s easy to remember, spell and pronounce. It possibly helps guard against misunderstandings if it’s relatively unique. (The only other Caversham I can find is in New Zealand – and that was named about the English one.) Now, perhaps there’s an aspect to the name Caversham that I’m missing, but toponymy (the study of place names) seems to be a chunky topic and well beyond my scope, so I’ll stop here.
With thanks to Barny for inspiring me to look in all this.
