Skegness, in the Candleshoe Wapentake of Lincolnshire, is a Scandinavian compound, but the meaning of the place-name is uncertain.

One suggestion is ‘Skeggi’s headland’ from the Old Norse male personal name Skeggi and the Old Norse element nes ‘ a ness, a headland, a promontory’.

More likely, the first element could be the Old Norse element skegg ‘beard’, ‘something jutting out’, which is related to the verb skaga and the topographical term skagi ‘promontory’. This Old Norse appellative is probably found in the two Skegby place-names in Nottinghamshire.