A chapel of ease had been built by 1140 and the names of a Decon is known from 1220. Rugby may not have become an independent parish until the 1290's. Page design by Chris Hicks . The study of the origins of place names is a very skilled and inexact process. It is essential that very early spellings are used as names were corrupted over the years.
Modern spellings are normally misleading when looking for the original form of the names.
Most words used to form English place names are Anglo-Saxon. In the East Midlands many Danish words are used, introduced during the Dane Law period. The use of Celtic words increases the further west the place is, probably indicating increased contact between the Anglo-Saxons and the British. The words used in place names are called 'elements' and are grouped into types. Normally the first part of the name.