The name Yeo appears to have been influenced by Old English ēa 'river'.

It flows through the town of Sherborne and Sherborne Lake in north Dorset, and the Somerset towns of Yeovil, Yeovilton and Ilchester, to which it gives its name, and joins the River Parrett near Langport.

For a few miles east of Yeovil, it forms the county boundary between Somerset and Dorset.

The river is navigable for light craft for 8 miles (13 km) from the Parrett to Ilchester.

Media related to River Yeo, Dorset at Wikimedia Commons