<P> Countries which have seen repeated large - scale cultural and / or linguistic changes, such as England or France, tend to have more broken down place names, as the original meaning is forgotten and drifts more quickly . They may also have more linguistically diverse place names; for instance in England place names may have Pre-Celtic, Celtic, Roman, Anglo - Saxon, Norse, or Norman - French origins . Conversely, countries with a more uniform cultural / linguistic history tend to have less broken down and diverse place names - Wales for instance (especially when compared to neighbouring England). </P> <P> Various names have been used for the island of Britain, see Britain (name). The origin of place names of the countries within Britain are discussed below . Each country is divided into a number of counties . </P> <P> Most English place - names are either Old Norse or Anglo - Saxon but there is a scattering of Celtic names over the whole country . Other place - names are hybrids of Celtic and Anglo - Saxon elements . There are a high level of personal names within the place names, presumably the names of local landowners at the time of naming . In the north and east, there are many place names of Norse origin; similarly, these contain many personal names . In general, the Anglo - Saxon and Norse place names tend to be rather mundane in origin, the most common types being (personal name + settlement / farm / place) or (type of farm + farm / settlement) (almost all towns ending in - wich, - ton, - ham, - by, - thorpe, - stoke / stock are of these types). </P> <P> In Cornwall most place - names are Cornish in origin, whilst in Cumbria there remain a number of place names in Cumbric, the Brythonic language of this region; examples including Carlisle, Helvellyn and Blencathra . </P>

What does ham at the end of a place name mean
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