Bourne - Place Names

Place Names

Bourne is a word from the Anglo-Saxon language of England. It means a stream, flowing from a spring, and is commonly used in southern England (particularly Dorset) as a name for a small river, particularly in compound names such as Winterbourne. It is used as a place name or as a part of a place name, usually in chalk downland countryside. Alternative forms are bourn or borne. The apparent variant, borne, which is found in Camborne, arises from the Cornish language and is in fact a false friend: it refers to a hill (Cornish: bronn, from Common Brythonic *brunda; compare Irish bruinn). Born/borne in German also means fount, or spring, and is related to the Indo-European root, *bhreu. That born/borne appears throughout Europe as a place name is also an important clue that this spelling is an etymological precursor to the Middle English bourne/burn. (cf. Burn (landform), in common use in Scotland and North East England.)

• The River Bourne, Wiltshire, a tributary of the River Avon in Wiltshire, England
• The River Bourne, Berkshire, a tributary of the River Pang in Berkshire, England
• The River Bourne, Dorset, a river that flows through Bournemouth, England into the English Channel
• The River Bourne, Chertsey, a tributary of the River Thames in Surrey, England
• The River Bourne, Addlestone, a tributary of the River Thames in Surrey, England
• The River Bourne, Kent, a tributary of the River Medway in Kent
• The Bourne Eau, flowing from the town of Bourne, Lincolnshire to the River Glen, Lincolnshire
• The Bourne area of South Farnham, Surrey, comprising Lower Bourne, Middle Bourne & Upper Bourne. Takes its name from the Bourne Stream, a tributary of the River Wey
• Bourne, Lincolnshire, a town in England
• Bourne, Massachusetts, a town in the USA
• Bourne SSSI, Avon, a Site of Special Scientific Interest
• Bournemouth, a town in Dorset, England
• Southbourne, Dorset and Westbourne, Dorset; suburbs of Bournemouth in Dorset, England
• Cambourne, Cambridgeshire a new town in Cambridgeshire, England
• Bourne End, Bletsoe, a hamlet in Bedfordshire, England
• Bourne End, Cranfield, a hamlet in Bedfordshire, England
• Bourne End, Buckinghamshire, a village in England
• Bourne End, Hertfordshire, a village in England

As Bourne, it appears in:

• Cranbourne, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia
• Eastbourne, a large town in East Sussex, on the south coast of England
• Fishbourne (disambiguation), several placed of this name
• Melbourne (disambiguation), several places of this name
• Nutbourne, Chichester, a village near Chichester, England
• Nutbourne, Horsham, a village near Horsham, England
• Otterbourne, a village near Winchester in Hampshire, England
• Southbourne, West Sussex, a village near Chichester, England
• Winterbourne (stream), as a prefix to several towns and villages in Dorset and Wiltshire, England
• River Ravensbourne, a tributary of the River Thames in South London which flows through the area also called Ravensbourne in Bromley, England.

As Bourn, it appears in:

• Bourn, Cambridgeshire, a village in England
• Bournbrook and Bournville, areas in Birmingham, England
• Lambourn, a village in Berkshire, England

As Borne, it appears in:

• Camborne, a town in Cornwall (but see above)
• Cranborne (village), and the area of Cranborne Chase, in Dorset, England (See also Borne (disambiguation))
• Sherborne, a town in Dorset, England
• Wimborne Minster, a town in Dorset, England