We’re very proud people here in Greater Manchester, and often that comes with being particularly proud of our smaller towns and areas within the region. Some of the names of these areas in Greater Manchester are, let’s say, difficult to grasp for some, with many dating back centuries, and others tracking the Lancashire, Yorkshire and Cheshire heritage of the modern towns and villages. That being said, we asked our audience to share which Greater Manchester place names are most often mispronounced, and they didn’t disappoint.
The most mispronounced Greater Manchester place names:
Altrincham
Location: Trafford
Mispronounced: ‘Alt-ring-champe‘
Pronounced: ‘Al-tringam‘
Origin: The name ‘Altrincham’ is Old English, meaning ‘the homestead of Aldhere’s people‘; from ‘inga’ a group of people and ‘ham’ a homestead, village or estate.
Atherton
Location: Wigan/Lancashire
Mispronounced: ‘Afferton‘
Pronounced: ‘A-thuh-tun‘
Origin: In Anglo Saxon times, the area presented a gently sloping, wooded landscape drained by brooks in small valleys (adre), where a settlement (tun) in an enclosed clearing, gave rise to the name ‘Adurton‘, first recorded in the 13th century. By the early 14th century the name had stabilised as Atherton, and had been adopted by the ‘de Athertons’, a Norman family who held the Lodge manor − AKA ‘Chowbent‘, with many elements of Atherton still carrying the name.
Beswick
Location: East Manchester
Mispronounced: ‘Bez-wick‘
Pronounced: ‘Besick‘
Origin: Before 1066, in Saxon times, the district was called ‘Beaces Hlaw‘ – ‘Hlaw’ was an old word for a small hill, often used as a burial mound. By the 13th century it had changed to ‘Beaces Wic‘ indicating that the area was predominantly farm land.
Blackley
Location: North Manchester
Mispronounced: ‘Black-lay‘
Pronounced: ‘Blake-lee‘
Origin: The hamlet of Blackley was mentioned in the Domesday Book. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon ‘Blæclēah‘, which means “dark wood” or “dark clearing”. In the 13th and 14th centuries, Blackley was referred to as ‘Blakeley‘ or ‘Blakelegh‘.
Breightmet
Location: Bolton
Mispronounced: ‘Bright-met‘
Pronounced: ‘Brate-met‘
Origin: The name comes from the Old English ‘breorht‘ meaning ‘bright’, and ‘maed‘ meaning ‘meadow’, making “bright meadow“. Its name was variously recorded as Brihtmede, Brightemete, Breghmete, Breghtmed, Brithmete, Brightmede and Breightmet in 1574.
Burnage
Location: South East Manchester
Mispronounced: ‘Bur-narge‘
Pronounced: ‘Bur-nidge‘
Origin: The name Burnage is thought to have stemmed from “Brown Hedge“, from the old brown stone walls or “hedges” which were common there in medieval times. In a survey of 1320, the district is referred to as “Bronadge“.
Bury
Location: Bury/Lancashire
Mispronounced: ‘Burry‘
Pronounced: ‘Berry‘
Origin: The name Bury, Buri and Byri comes from the Saxon and means “a stronghold“. In ancient times it is thought that the whole area was probably forest, marsh and moorland inhabited by nomadic herdsmen.
Daubhill
Location: Bolton
Mispronouned: ‘Dawb-hill‘
Pronounced : ‘Dobble‘
Origin: The name Daubhill comes from the rise on which Park Cakes now sits, and the deposit of ‘daub‘ (clay) behind it.
Droylsden
Location: Tameside
Mispronounced: ‘Droyl-ees-den‘/’Trolls-den‘
Pronounced: ‘Droyls-dun‘
Origin: There is some debate around the origin of Droylsden, the most common explanation being ‘Drygel’s Valley’, ‘Dygel’ being a companion of war, or dry spring or dry valley.
Dukinfield
Location: Tameside
Mispronounced: ‘Duke-in-field‘
Pronounced: ‘Duck-in-field‘
Origin: Dukinfield means “Raven of the Field” and derives from the Old English ‘duce‘ and ‘feld‘. Early records show the township was included in the fee of Dunham Massey, and was held by Matthew de Bramhall in about 1190, and after that by a family who took the name “De Dokenfeld”.
Glodwick
Location: Oldham
Mispronounced: ‘Glod-wick‘
Pronounced: ‘Glod-ick‘
Origin: The name Glodwick was recorded first as ‘Glodic‘ in the 1190s. The first element may be a Brittonic word related to the Welsh ‘clawdd‘, meaning “ditch” or “hedge”, and the second may be the Old English ‘dic‘, likewise meaning “ditch”, added later to the Brittonic word.
Greenacres
Location: Oldham
Mispronounced: ‘Green-acres‘
Pronounced: ‘Grinnickers‘
Origin: Greenacres is archaically known as Greenacres Moor, and is pretty self-explanatory. Until 1807, Greenacres had been open moorland, but the area was urbanised with cotton mills and densely packed redbrick terraced houses as part of Oldham’s rapid industrialisation in the 19th century.
Harpurhey
Location: North Manchester
Mispronounced: ‘Har-poor-he‘
Pronounced: ‘Arpur-hey‘
Origin: Harpurhey is recorded in 1320 as “Harpourhey“, meaning “hedged enclosure by a man called Harpour”, who owned the area in the 14th century.
Hulme
Location: Manchester City Centre
Mispronounced: ‘Hull-mee‘
Pronounced: ‘Hyoom‘
Origin: The name Hulme comes from the Old Norse word for a ‘small island’, or ‘land surrounded by water or marsh’, showing that it was probably settled by Norse invaders during the period of the Danelaw.
Ordsall
Location: Salford
Mispronounced: ‘Ord-sall‘
Pronounced: ‘Odsul‘
Origin: The name Ordsall has Old English origins being the personal name ‘Ord’, and the word ‘halh’, meaning a corner or nook, which has become the modern dialect word ‘haugh’.
Quay (eg. Quay Street/Salford Quays)
Location: Salford/Manchester City Centre
Mispronounced: ‘Kway‘
Pronounced: ‘Key‘
Origin: The word Quay comes from the Old French word ‘quai’, meaning ‘wharf’.
Salford
Location: Salford
Mispronounced: ‘Sall-ford‘
Pronounced: ‘Sol-fud‘
Origin: The name of Salford derives from the Old English word ‘Sealhford‘, meaning a ‘ford by the willow trees’. It referred to the willows (salix) or sallows that grew alongside the banks of the River Irwell − the ford was about where Victoria Bridge is today.
Westhoughton
Location: Bolton
Mispronounced: ‘West-how-ton‘/’Wes-thought-on‘
Pronounced: ‘West-haw-ton‘
Origin: The name Westhoughton is derived from the Old English, ‘halh’ (or ‘haugh’) for a nook or corner of land, and ‘tun’ for a farmstead or settlement – meaning a “westerly settlement in a corner of land”. This makes sense when you realise the locals were, and often are still, called ‘Keawyeds‘ or ‘cow heads’, after a farmer historically cut a cow’s head off when it got stuck in a fence…
Worsley
Location: Salford
Mispronounced: ‘War-sley‘
Pronounced: ‘Werz-ley‘
Origin: The first recorded mention of Worsley occurs in a Pipe roll of 1195–96, where it is referred to as ‘Werkesleia’. There are many variations on the town’s name; it is recorded as Wyrkedele, Whurkedeleye, Worketley, Worcotesley, Workedeley, and Wyrkeslegh. The spelling in early documents suggests an Anglo-Saxon origin, and ‘Ge-Weore’, the Old English form of the name, means “the cleared place which was cultivated or settled.”
Wythenshawe
Location: South Manchester
Mispronounced: ‘With-in-shaw‘
Pronounced: ‘Withen-shaw‘
Origin: The name Wythenshawe seems to come from the Old English ‘wiðign’ = “withy tree” and ‘sceaga’ = “wood” (dialectal word ‘shaw’).
We’re sure we’ve missed a few out, but it just goes to show the rich cultural history our smaller towns and villages originated from! Let us know your thoughts on the most mispronounced place names in Greater Manchester here.