This article was updated by the Great British Mag team on 26 January 2022.
It’s true that the names of many British towns, cities and villages probably sound strange to you. But that’s not all – there are more than a handful of place names that will make you scratch your head and put a smirk on your face.
For example, there is a Scottish village called Dull which happens to twin with a place in America called Boring. OK, we know someone’s laughing now…
But Dull is by no means the only strange place name in the UK. How about Bachelors Bump in Essex, Jolly’s Bottom in Cornwall or Knockerdown in Derbyshire? They’re just a few of the weird but wonderful names that make a trip around the UK so fascinating.
Some, like North Piddle in Worcestershire, are amusing because the name has a secondary, and unfortunate meaning (piddle is slang for ‘urine’). Then there’s Great Cockup and Little Cockup in the Lake District – cock-up means ‘mistake’ or ‘blunder’.
The list doesn’t finish there. It goes on and on. And here are some more of our favourites:
- Fryup
- Grumbla
- Nasty
- Tarty
- Ugley
- Tomtit’s Bottom
- Nempnett Thrubwell
- Lost
- Twatt
- Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (This is not a typo! It is the name of a place in Wales – honestly.)
- Tongue
- Scratchy Bottom
- Shitterton
- Ham
As well as silly place names, some Brits even have funny last names, too. Check out our list of the seven funniest!
