''-hou'' or ''hou'' is a place-name element found commonly in the Norman toponymy of the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

and continental

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

Etymology and signification

Its etymology and meaning are disputed, but most specialists think it comes from Saxon or Anglo-Saxon ''hōh'' "heel", sometimes ''hō'', then "heel-shaped promontory", "rocky steep slope", "steep shore". This toponymic appellative appears as a final ''-hou'' or associated with the Romance definite article ''le Hou''. It can be found everywhere in Normandy, but more in the western part of it. The English toponymy uses this Saxon or Anglo-Saxon element the same way, but its result is phonetically ''-hoo'' or ''-hoe'', sometimes ''-(h)ow'' or ''-ho'' e. g. : Northoo (Suffolk); Poddinghoo (Worcestershire); Millhoo (Essex);

Fingringhoe Fingringhoe is a village and civil parish in Essex, England, located five miles south-east of Colchester. The centre of the village is classified as a conservation area, featuring a traditional village pond and red telephone box. The ''Roman Ri ...

(Essex); Rainow (Cheshire);

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was deve ...

(London); etc.

Eilert Ekwall Bror Oscar Eilert Ekwall (born 8 January 1877 in Vallsjö (now in Sävsjö, Jönköpings län), Sweden, died 23 November 1964 in Lund, Skåne län, Sweden), known as Eilert Ekwall, was Professor of English at Sweden's Lund University from 1909 t ...

, ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names'' (4th edition), Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1960, p. 244b. As an independent element it is ''Hoe, Hoo, Hooe, Ho'' or ''the Hoe'', e.g. the Hoe at

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to ...

(Dorset) above the harbour. In Normandy, it may have sometimes mixed up with

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...

''hólmr'', meaning a small island, and often found anglicised elsewhere as "holm". It can still be found in modern Scandinavian languages, e.g. Stockholm. The normal evolution of ''hólmr'' in Normandy is ''-homme'', ''-houme'', even ''-onne'' at the end of a toponym and le Homme, le Houlme, le Hom with the article. The Norman toponym and

diminutive A diminutive is a root word that has been modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment. A ( abbreviated ) is a word-form ...

''hommet / houmet'' also derives from this element. In

Parisian French French of France () is the predominant variety of the French language in France, Andorra and Monaco, in its formal and informal registers. It has, for a long time, been associated with Standard French. It is now seen as a variety of French alo ...

, the equivalent is ''îlot'', which is cognate with the English "islet".

Channel Islands

Bailiwick of Guernsey

* Off

Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...

** Lihou * Off

Alderney Alderney (; french: Aurigny ; Auregnais: ) is the northernmost of the inhabited Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependencies, Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The island's area is , making i ...

Burhou Burhou (pronounced ''ber-ROO'') is a small island about northwest of Alderney that is part of the Channel Islands. It has no permanent residents, and is a bird sanctuary, so landing there is banned from March 15 to August 1. The island's wildl ...

* Off

Herm Herm ( Guernésiais: , ultimately from Old Norse 'arm', due to the shape of the island, or Old French 'hermit') is one of the Channel Islands and part of the Parish of St Peter Port in the Bailiwick of Guernsey. It is located in the English ...

Jethou Jethou ( ) is a small island that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey in the Channel Islands. It is privately leased from the Crown, and not open to the public. Resembling the top of a wooded knoll it is immediately south of Herm and covers a ...

* Off

Sark Sark (french: link=no, Sercq, ; Sercquiais: or ) is a part of the Channel Islands in the southwestern English Channel, off the coast of Normandy, France. It is a royal fief, which forms part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, with its own set of ...

** Brecqhou

Bailiwick of Jersey

* Les Écréhous * La Rocco (from ''rocque-hou'') * Icho (from ''ic-hou'')

Continental Normandy

''-hou''

*Manche **Bléhou, hamlet at

Sainteny Sainteny () is a former Communes of France, commune in the Manche Departments of France, department in Normandy (administrative region), Normandy in northwestern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Terre-et-Marais.

. **Bunehou, hamlet and manor at Saint-Germain-le-Gaillard. **Ingrehou, hamlet at

Saint-Sauveur-de-Pierrepont Saint-Sauveur-de-Pierrepont () is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. See also *Communes of the Manche department The following is a list of the 446 communes of the Manche department of France. The commun ...

. **Cap Lihou, à Granville **Néhou, hamlet at Auvers. **Nehou, hamlet at Gatteville-le-Phare. **Primehou, hamlet at Nay. **

Tatihou Tatihou is an islet of Normandy in France with an area of . It is located to the east of the Cotentin peninsula just off the coast near Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue. It is almost uninhabited, and is usually reached by amphibious craft although, bein ...

Quettehou Quettehou is a commune in the Manche department in north-western France. On 1 January 2019, the former commune Morsalines was merged into Quettehou. Geography The town of Quettehou is located at the North-East tip of the peninsula of Cotentin ...

** Néhou ** Tribehou *Eure **Quatre-houx (''Catehou'' 1174, ''Cathoux'' without date), hamlet at le Noyer-en-Ouche *Seine-Maritime **Le Conihout (''Conihou'' end of the 12th century), hamlet at le Mesnil-sous-Jumièges

Variant form ''Ho- / Hau-''

*Hotot *Hautot See Huttoft, England

Notes

References

*'' Noms de lieux de Normandie'', René Lepelley, 1999 Paris *''Jersey Place Names'', Stevens, Arthur & Stevens, 1986 Jersey {{DEFAULTSORT:Hou Norman language Channel Islands Jersey Place name element etymologies