From river crossings and woodland settlements to ancient peoples and royal associations, our neighborhood names open a small window onto a much larger history.
Many match English place names, and several are also familiar in New England. Here is a closer look at all 29.
Andover in Hampshire has a name commonly interpreted as “ash-tree waters,” although accounts differ over its early linguistic form. Andover, Massachusetts, took its name from the English town. Either connection is possible here; the Village’s choice is not documented.
Source: Memorial Hall Library: Andover’s name
Explore Andover associations →The English name is usually explained as “Beda’s ford”: a river crossing associated with a person named Beda. That explains the historic place name, rather than identifying the person who selected it for Century Village.
Source: CPRE Bedfordshire: county history
Explore Bedford associations →Berkshire preserves the early county name Bearrocscir. The ending means shire or district; interpretations of the older first element vary, including a connection with a hilly place. A precise literal translation should be treated cautiously.
Source: Online Etymology Dictionary: Berkshire
Explore Berkshire associations →Cambridge developed from a name referring to a bridge over the Granta. The river name Cam was later formed from the town’s name—a reversal of what a modern reader might expect. Cambridge, Massachusetts, provides another familiar connection.
Source: University of Cambridge: Granta
Explore Cambridge associations →London’s Camden takes its name from Charles Pratt, first Earl Camden, whose land was developed there. American places also bear the name. This identifies a historical naming tradition, but not Century Village’s particular intended namesake.
Source: Camden Council: Camden’s history
Explore Camden associations →The English city’s name refers to the fortified place of the people of Kent. It carries an ancient regional name inside a later English place name.
Source: Society for Name Studies: city names
Explore Canterbury associations →The Kent place name combines an old word for woodland with Old English hām, meaning a homestead or settlement. Chatham is also familiar in Massachusetts and elsewhere.
Source: FamilySearch: Oxford surname dictionary entry
Explore Chatham associations →The English city’s name is generally interpreted as “Cofa’s tree.” Cofa is taken as a personal name, but the individual’s identity is unknown.
Source: Coventry Council: historical development (PDF)
Explore Coventry associations →Dorchester in Dorset developed from the Roman town name Durnovaria, combined with a later English ending for a Roman settlement. Dorchester in Massachusetts is another possible route by which the name became familiar.
Source: Dorset Council: Roman Dorchester
Explore Dorchester associations →Dover’s Roman name was Dubris. It is traditionally explained through an earlier British word associated with waters, although the exact interpretation has been debated.
Source: Dover Museum: Roman Dover
Explore Dover associations →Easthampton, Massachusetts, was formerly part of Northampton. East Hampton, New York, also appeared historically as “Easthampton.” The Village’s one-word spelling is suggestive, but does not establish which place was intended.
Source: American Centuries: Easthampton history
Explore Easthampton associations →County planning records place Golf’s Edge condominiums beside the former golf-course property. “Golf’s Edge” therefore reads naturally as a description of the location. This is a local interpretation, not a recovered developer naming statement.
Source: Palm Beach County: planning records (PDF)
Explore Golf’s Edge associations →Greenbrier is a common name for Smilax vines found in Florida. It also evokes The Greenbrier resort in West Virginia. Both are real associations; neither has been confirmed as the reason for this subdivision’s name.
Source: University of Florida IFAS: greenbriers
Explore Greenbrier associations →Hastings preserves the early group name Hæstingas, commonly understood as Hæsta’s people. It is a reminder that some place names began as names for communities rather than landscape features.
Source: Historic town assessment: Hastings (PDF)
Explore Hastings associations →Kent continues the ancient regional name recorded in Latin as Cantium. Its deeper meaning is debated, so a confident modern translation would go beyond the evidence.
Source: Kent Archaeological Society: Kentish place names
Explore Kent associations →Kingswood is a descriptive English name meaning the king’s wood. More than one place bears it; Kingswood near Bristol is associated with a former royal hunting forest. The Village’s specific reference is unknown.
Source: Gazetteer of British Place Names: Kingswood
Explore Kingswood associations →Northampton’s early name referred to a homestead or enclosure. “North” was added later to distinguish it. Northampton, Massachusetts, is another familiar bearer of the name.
Source: Society for Name Studies: city names
Explore Northampton associations →Norwich’s English name means a northern trading place. The old ending wīc often appears in names associated with settlements and trade.
Source: Society for Name Studies: city names
Explore Norwich associations →Oxford means a ford used by oxen: a practical river crossing that eventually gave its name to a celebrated university city.
Source: Society for Name Studies: city names
Explore Oxford associations →Plymouth means the mouth of the River Plym. Plymouth, Massachusetts, gives the name a strong New England association as well, without settling the Village’s intended reference.
Source: Society for Name Studies: city names
Explore Plymouth associations →Salisbury’s history reaches back through Old Sarum to the Roman name Sorviodunum. The later English form includes an element meaning a fortified place; the earliest first element is uncertain.
Source: Wiltshire Council: Salisbury history
Explore Salisbury associations →Sheffield’s name describes open land beside the River Sheaf. The river’s name survives inside the city’s name.
Source: Sheffield City Council: city name and arms
Explore Sheffield associations →The county name developed from a name for the people living at or dependent on Somerton. Its history is more specific than the appealing modern phrase “summer set.”
Source: Online Etymology Dictionary: Somerset
Explore Somerset associations →Southampton’s older elements refer to a settlement on waterside land. “South” was a later addition. Despite their similar modern endings, Southampton and Northampton do not have exactly the same underlying explanation.
Source: Society for Name Studies: city names
Explore Southampton associations →Stratford combines an old word for a street or road with ford. Stratford-upon-Avon is the famous example, but there are several Stratfords; a specific namesake for the Village is unconfirmed.
Source: Shakespeare Birthplace Trust: Stratford-upon-Avon
Explore Stratford associations →Sussex derives from the South Saxons. Like Essex and Wessex, it preserves the name of an early Saxon people and their territory.
Source: South Downs National Park: Sussex history
Explore Sussex associations →Waltham is generally understood as a forest or woodland homestead or enclosure. Waltham, Massachusetts, is a possible American association, but even its museum notes uncertainty about the precise English namesake.
Source: Waltham Museum: history of Waltham
Explore Waltham associations →Wellington is the name of several English places. Wellington in Somerset supplied the Duke of Wellington’s title. Whether the Village evokes a town, the duke, or the name’s broader associations remains unconfirmed.
Source: National Trust: Wellington Monument history
Explore Wellington associations →Windsor is commonly interpreted as a riverbank associated with a windlass, a device for winding or lifting. Its royal associations came later in the place’s history.
Source: Windsor Local History Group: what’s in a name?
Explore Windsor associations →Browse all subdivision directories · Explore the Village map · See the 1971 promotional booklet
Historical research compiled October 29, 2026. Sources are linked beside each entry. Early place-name meanings can be uncertain; a surviving naming memo or original sales document could help establish the Village’s own story.
