-hay (place name element)

is a place-name word-ending common in England.

It derives from the Old English word hege[1] or haga,[2] Middle English heie,[3] in Icelandic hagi,[2] meaning "an enclosed field", and is from the same root as the English word "hedge", a structure which surrounds and encloses an area of land,[4] from the Norman-French haie, "a hedge".

haga) and Hay (from O.E.

hege) are cognate and both mean "hedge".

[3] In the vicinity of Derbyshire: In the vicinity of Exeter: In the vicinity of Tiverton:

Floyer Hayes shown on a 1765 map of the City of Exeter , Devon, by Benjamin Donn. Many open spaces around the outside of the City walls are shown as suffixed "Hay", such as Shill Hay, Southern Hay, Northern Hay , Fryers Hay, Bon Hay