ster? Any connection?

[Anonymous]

I am sure I am not alone in being mistaken for Irish. Many people think the Caithness accent is Irish, was looking at a map the other day and the number of places with the suffix STER seemed to stand out, Scrabster, Lybster, Bilbster, Ulbster, Haster etc etc. Now I know there are counites in Ireland called Ulster, Munster etc I take it that the ster comes from Nordic or something (anyone elaborate?) . So then I thought, thats it, that why eveyone thinks we are Irish, then looked furhter down the map and found Manchester, Winchester.....

[2little2late]

There is some connection to place names in Caithness ending in STER. Not sure if it is something to do with cairns. I did read it a while ago in the local paper and i'm sure i've read about it on this website aswell.

[Partan]

I understand that the "ster" suffix common in Northern Scotland and the North Isles is derived from a Norse word meaning "homestead" or "dwelling place".

The suffix "chester" derives from the Latin "castra" for fortification ("castle" is derived from the same Latin root).

[Anonymous]

Cheers Partan.