Village sign in Leicestershire. Photo Judith Jesch
Description
Harby
Harby, Leicestershire
Harby, in the Framland Hundred of Leicestershire, contains the Old Norse element by ‘farmstead, village’. The first element has been a matter of discussion. The most recent scholarly opinion is that it is most likely from either Old English heorde ‘herdsman’, or Old Norse hjọrð ‘herd’, so either ‘farmstead or village of the herdsmen’ or ‘the herd farm’.
For a village of the same name in Nottinghamshire it has also been suggested that the first element is the Old Norse male personal name Herrøðr, though this is now considered less likely.
