Its scholars aim to explain the origin and history of the names they study, taking into account factors such as the meaning of the elements out of which they were created (whether from the principal endemic tongues Old English, early Welsh, Danish, Norwegian, Cornish, Latin, Norman French – or others); the topography, geology and ecology of the places bearing the names; and the general and local history and culture of England.
Within a year he had brought into being a society composed of interested persons, provided it with a constitution, and laid down the lines of its future conduct.
At the outbreak of World War II, the Society removed briefly to University College, Aberystwyth, back to London, and then to Stansted Bury, Stanstead Abbotts, in eastern Hertfordshire.
When Professor Hugh Smith assumed the position of honorary director in 1951, University College, London, became once more the Society's headquarters, with Margaret Midgley continuing research there until 1953.
Upon his death in 1967, Professor Kenneth Cameron became honorary director and the Society's offices were split between London and Nottingham, where the university provided room for the library and archives, as well as the services of a secretary.
From the 1960s detailed comparison of distributions of the place-name types which had been thought to be early Saxon – and of archaeological evidence – has produced a re-written interpretation of some.
By 2018 the society had published a range of other books and booklets by category (e.g. field-names), and some county dictionaries aimed mainly at a non-specialist audience.