Estate name

[[File:Cyrus Jacobs House, Boise.jpg|thumb|right|An estate sign designating the Cyrus Jacobs House in Boise, Idaho.]] An '''estate name''',<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lenney |first1=Christopher J. |title=Sightseeking: Clues to the Landscape History of New England |date=2003 |publisher=University Press of New England |location=Durham, NH |page=78}}</ref> also '''house name'''<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hough |first1=Carole |title=The Oxford Handbook of Names and Naming |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |pages=639ff.}}</ref> or '''farm name''',<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pugh |first1=Delia H. |title=House and Farm Names in North Wales |journal=Names |date=1954 |pages=28–30 |url=https://ans-names.pitt.edu/ans/article/download/58/57/118 |access-date=October 20, 2025}}</ref> is a specific type of toponym that designates an estate, house, or farm. Estate names differ from most toponyms in that they designate proper names, which may give little or no geographic information to people who are not already familiar with the settlement so named. When used in a person's name, for example, the name of a family farm may be taken, rather than the word for farm or a nearby river (as would be classically toponymic).

==Other terminology== Sometimes, the term ''ecodomonym'' (from {{langx|grc|δόμος}}, {{lang|grc-Latn|domos}}) is used to refer specifically to a building as an inhabited place.{{sfnp|Zgusta|1998|p=193}}<ref name="Room">Room, Adrian. 1996. ''An Alphabetical Guide to the Language of Name Studies.'' Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.</ref>{{rp|35}} Comparatively, the term ''mansionym'' is used to designate a historical residence (e.g., the Daniel Boone Homestead).<ref name="Room"/>{{rp|58}} Lay terms referring to the proper name of a house or other building include ''house name'',<ref>Cromley, Elizabeth C. 1990. ''Alone Together: A History of New York's Early Apartments.'' Ithaca: Cornell University Press, p. 143.</ref> ''farm name'', which refers to an agricultural property, or ''property name'', which refers to a non-agricultural property.

Individuals may traditionally be referred to by estate names rather than other surnames in Basque,<ref>Ott, Sandra. 1981. ''The Circle of Mountains: A Basque Shepherding Community.'' Reno: University of Nevada Press, p. 43.</ref> Finnish, Norwegian,<ref>Helleland, Botolv, & Kjell Bondevik . 1975. ''Norske stedsnavn/stadnamn''. Oslo: Grøndahl, p. 157.</ref> Slovene,<ref name="Bas">Baš, Angelos. 2004. ''Slovenski etnološki leksikon''. Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga. p. 168.</ref> and other languages. In these cultures, the name of the property is more or less fixed and may refer to the people living there at any particular time, regardless of their actual surname or whether they recently purchased or moved to the property.<ref name="Bas"/>

==Examples of estate names==

===German=== German farm names ({{langx|de|Hofname}}) were often adopted as surnames. Surnames with such origins are most common in Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia.<ref>Beidler, James M. 2014. ''The Family Tree German Genealogy Guide: How to Trace Your Germanic Ancestry.'' Cincinnati, OH: Family Tree Books, p. 101.</ref>

===Icelandic=== thumb|150px|A road sign with farm names (''Lýsuhóll, Lýsudalur'') in Iceland Explicit reference is made to farm names (and their lack of correspondence with residents' names) in ''Njáls saga'', a 13th-century Icelandic work describing events between 960 and 1020. For example: <blockquote> Þar eru þrír bæir er í Mörk heita allir. Á miðbænum bjó sá maður er Björn hét og var kallaður Björn hvíti.<ref>[https://www.sagadb.org/brennu-njals_saga#141 Icelandic Saga Database: Brennu-Njáls saga.]</ref><br>'There are three farms in that district, all called Mörk. At the middle farm lived a man named Björn [Kaðalsson], known as Björn the White.' (chapter 148) </blockquote> In comparison to farm names in Norwegian and Faroese, in which the share of such names based on persons' names may be as low as 4 to 5%, in Icelandic approximately 32% of farm names are based on a personal name.<ref>Jesch, Judith. 2015. ''The Viking Diaspora''. London: Routledge.</ref> Since 1953, farm names have been enshrined in law, and Icelandic farms are required to have registered names approved by a special committee.<ref>Kvarad, Guðrún. 2005. Social Stratification in the Present-Day Nordic Languages IV: Icelandic. In: Oscar Bandle (ed.), ''The Nordic Languages'', pp. 1788–1793. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, p. 1793.</ref> As travel by ship became more common in Iceland, the number of farms that had to be distinguished grew in number, and more complex compound names were created.<ref>Adams, Jonathan, & Katherine Holman. 2004. ''Scandinavia and Europe 800–1350: Contact, Conflict, and Coexistence''. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 104.</ref> In compound Icelandic farm names, the single most common second element is ''-staðir'' 'place', although topographical suffixes (''-dalr'' 'valley', ''-nes'' 'headland', ''-fell'' 'hill', ''-eyrr'' 'bank') form the largest group of such elements.<ref>Sigmundsson, Svavar. 1998. Icelandic and Scottish Place-Names. In: W. F. H. Nicolaisen (ed.), ''Proceedings of the XIXth International Congress of Onomastic Sciences, Aberdeen, August 4–11, 1996: Scope, Perspectives and Methods of Onomastics'', vol. 1. pp. 330–342. Aberdeen: University of Aberdeen, p. 330.</ref>

===Norwegian=== [[File:Gertrud Oldsdatter Nergaard.jpg|thumb|A Norwegian first name (''Gjertrud'') followed by a patronym (''Olsdatter'') and farm name (''Nergaard'')]] Norwegian farm names ({{langx|no|gårdsnavn}}) are based on various factors associated with a property: local geography (hills, etc.), land use, vegetation, animals, characteristic activity, folk religion, and owners' nicknames. Such names in Norway were collected in the 19-volume collection ''Norske Gaardnavne'', published between 1897 and 1924.<ref>[https://snl.no/Norske_Gaardnavne ''Store Norske Leksikon'': Norske Gaardnavne.]</ref> Typical suffixes on such names include ''-bø'', ''-gaard/-gård'', ''-heim/-um'', ''-land'', ''-rud/-rød'', and ''-set''. After the 1923 naming law ({{langx|no|Lov om personnavn}} or ''Navneloven'') was passed in Norway, many rural people adopted the names of the farms where they lived as surnames. These farm names were retained as surnames even after they moved away to towns or emigrated. It is estimated that 70% of surnames in Norway are based on farm names.<ref>Coleman, Nancy L., & Olav Veka. 2010. ''A Handbook of Scandinavian Names''. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, p. 75.</ref>

The traditional farm name system was not retained among Norwegian emigrants to the United States, even in communities where Norwegian continued to be spoken. It has been suggested that this was because of cultural differences, whereby American farms were perceived as income sources rather than traditional family seats.<ref>Kruse, Arne. 1996. Scandinavian-American Place-Names as Viewed from the Old World. In: P. Sture Ureland et al. (eds.), ''Language Contact across the North Atlantic'', pp. 255–268. Tübingen: Max Niemeyer, pp. 262–263.</ref>

===Slovene=== {{multiple image | align = right | footer = Slovene house names | footer_align = center | image1 = Valbruna Italy - Oeconym.jpg | width1 = 228 | caption1 = ''Farouž'', a house name in Valbruna ({{langx|sl|Ovčja vas}}), Italy | image2 = Zasip Slovenia - oeconym.JPG | width2 = 200 | caption2 = A street address and house name (in dialect) in Zasip, Slovenia }} Slovene house names ({{langx|sl|hišno ime}}, {{lit|house name}}) are generally based on microtoponyms (e.g., ''pri Vrtaču'' 'sinkhole'); on names of animals (''pri Ovnu'' 'ram'), trees (''pri Gabru'' 'hornbeam'), and other plants (''pri Čemažarju'' 'ramsons') associated with a property; on activities traditionally associated with a property (''pri Sadjarju'' 'planting'); or on the name or nickname of the original property owner (''pri Ančki'' 'Annie'). They may also refer to roles (formerly) played in the community (e.g., ''pri Španu'' 'mayor'), the property's physical position (''pri Zgornjih'' 'upper') or age (''Stara šola'' 'old school'), professions (''pri Žnidarju'' 'tailor'), personal qualities (''pri Bogatu'' 'rich'), or other noteworthy characteristics (e.g., ''pri Amerikanu'' 'immigrant returned from the United States').<ref name="Bas"/><ref>Klinar, Klemen et al. 2012. ''Metode za zbiranje hišnih in ledinskih imen''. Jesenice: Gornjesavski muzej Jesenice, pp. 52–53.</ref> The properties are generally referred to with a locative phrase (e.g., ''pri Gabru'' 'at the Gaber farm'), and the residents are referred to with the base noun (e.g., ''Gaber'' 'the man from the Gaber farm'), a derived noun (''Gabrovka'' 'the woman from the Gaber farm'), or a preceding denominal adjective (''Gabrov Jože'' 'Jože from the Gaber farm', ''Gabrova Marija'' 'Marija from the Gaber farm'). A well-known Slovene example is the writer Lovro Kuhar, better known by the pen name ''Prežihov Voranc'' (literally, 'Voranc from the Prežih farm').<ref>Druškovič, Drago. 1993. Karantanski rod. ''Srce in oko: obzornik Prešernove družbe'' 45: 27–35, p. 28.</ref><ref>[https://www.mgl.si/assets/Uploads/GL-Samorastniki-low.pdf Hamer, Simona. 2015. Lovro Kuhar – Prežihov Voranc. In: ''Samorastniki'' (program notes). Ljubljana: MGL, pp. 16–19.]</ref> Slovene house names often appear on gravestones as plural denominal adjectives (e.g., ''Gabrovi'' 'the ones from the Gaber farm'), sometimes without the surname being given at all. {{see also|Slovene field and house names in Carinthia}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Sources== * {{Cite book|last=Room|first=Adrian|title=An Alphabetical Guide to the Language of Name Studies|year=1996|location=Lanham and London|publisher=The Scarecrow Press|isbn=9780810831698|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XEtiAAAAMAAJ}} * {{cite journal |last=Zgusta |first=Ladislav |title=The Terminology of Name Studies (In Margine of Adrian Room's Guide to the Language. of Name Studies) |journal=Names: A Journal of Onomastics |date=1998 |volume=46 |issue=27–7738 |pages=189–203 |doi=10.1179/nam.1998.46.3.189 |url=https://ans-names.pitt.edu/ans/article/view/1525 |access-date=30 December 2023|url-access=subscription |doi-access=free }}

==External links== *[https://www.dokpro.uio.no/rygh_ng/rygh_info.html Oluf Rygh: Norwegian Farm Names] *[https://www.hisnaimena.si/ Hišna imena na Gorenjskem (House namesin Upper Carniola)] {{in lang|sl}}

Category:Toponymy Category:Onomastics