Place  Names

Here are some statistics about place names found in a gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland.

The 26 Bridgxxxxx includes 11 places called Bridgend.

What do you think about the relative numbers of bridge names, including bont and pont names, and the number of ford names, including rhyd names?  What about the ratio of pont names to bridge names, and the ratio of rhyd names to ford names?  Does this mean that a smaller proportion of Welsh rivers are fordable, or that bridge builders were more energetic in Wales?  Perhaps it is just the result of the way that people choose to give names to places.

What do you think about names like Fordingbridge, Hartfordbridge, Heckfordbridge, Hyndford Bridge, Laxford Bridge, Montford Bridge, Stamford Bridge, and Stanford Bridge;  and Pont-rhyd-y-fen, Pontrhydfendigaid, and Pontrhydygroes?

You would expect fictional place names to reflect reality to some extent, and you would be right.  The long-running "Archers" of BBC radio is based on the imaginary village of Ambridge.  Thomas Hardy wrote "The Mayor of Casterbridge".  You can probably think of other examples.