Name: Lanetta
Country and Region: Birmingham, AL
Native Language: English
Student or Teacher: Teacher
Age or Grade:
Subject of Question:

Question:

What is the origin of the name "Birmingham," cities in Alabama and England?

The name Birmingham is derived from the Old English or Anglo-Saxon "Beormund ingas ham." 'Beormund' is a proper name, 'ingas' means 'people,' and 'ham' means 'farm/homestead.' So, "the farm of Beormund's people" is a reasonable gloss.

According to the Birmingham Convention and Visitor's Bureau , and corroborated by several other sources, Birmingham, Alabama was named for Birmingham, England due to the latter's fame as an industrial center. Apparently the founders of Birmingham, Alabama hoped that some of that success would rub off.

If you wish to learn more on the etymological end, a quick search for "anglo-saxon place names england" on Google netted several hundred sites on the subject. Here is one site that has a light overview of English place-name etymology and a good list of reference works: http://www.connections.nd irect.co.uk/pn1nf.html

The best standard references are:

Mills, A.D. (1991) A Dictionary of Place-names Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ekwall, E. (1987) The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names Oxford: Oxford University Press.

-Chris Frost
For Ask a Linguistic Tutor

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