indicate the level to which a name has been verified.
Type River
Usage English
Meaning & History
A river in North-East England. Its meaning is unknown, but some sources relate it to a word in a local Celtic or pre-Celtic language *tei-*, meaning 'river'. However, the evidence for the existence of such a word is insufficient.It's worth noting the similarity between Tyne and the Welsh tân, 'fire', which could have been used to describe the reddish-brown color of the river.It has also been suggested that Tyne derives from a Brythonic derivative of Indo-European *teihx, 'dirty'.The obscure Brythonic river-naming term *ti- has also been used to explain the various rivers of this name in England and Scotland.