List of United Kingdom county nicknames

This is a list of nicknames for counties of the United Kingdom. This includes the counties of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. Counties are only included if they have a nickname.

List

County	Nickname	Origins and notes
County Antrim	The Glenmen	From the Glens of Antrim
County Armagh	The Orchard County The Cathedral County	Due to large number of orchards Due to St Patrick's Cathedral (Church of Ireland) and St Patrick's Cathedral (Catholic) both being in the city of Armagh
Bedfordshire	Clangers	From Bedfordshire clangers
Berkshire	Berks The Royal County	Shortening of Berkshire Due to Windsor Castle being in the county
Berwickshire	Duns-shire	Due to Duns being the county town
Buckinghamshire	Bucks	Shortening of Buckinghamshire
Cambridgeshire	Cambs	Shortening of Cambridgeshire
Carmarthenshire	Carms / Sir Gar	Shortening of Carmarthenshire / Welsh for Carmarthenshire
Ceredigion	Cardiganshire	Ceredigion is from the ancient kingdom but Cardiganshire is sometimes colloquially used instead
Clackmannanshire	The Wee County	Smallest county in Scotland and the UK by area. [1]
Cornwall	Kernow	Cornish name for Cornwall
Derbyshire	Derbys	Shortening of Derbyshire
Denbighshire / Sir Ddinbych	Denbs / Ddinbych	Shortening of Denbighshire / Shorthand from Welsh
County Down	The Mourne County	From the Mourne Mountains
County Durham	Land of the Prince Bishops	From the Bishops of Durham. [2]
County Fermanagh	The Maguire County	From the medieval lords, the Maguire (Mag Uidhir) family.
Fife	Kingdom of Fife	Referring to the old Kingdom of Fife
Flintshire / Sir y Fflint	Flints / Fflint	Shortening of Flintshire / Shorthand from Welsh
Gloucestershire	Glos The King's County	Shortening of Gloucestershire The current King, King Charles III, has his family residence in this county.
Hampshire	Hants The Hog County Jane Austen's County	Shortening of Hampshire Wild boar hunting in the New Forest [3] Jane Austen born in Hampshire [4]
Hertfordshire	Herts	Shortening of Hertfordshire
Isle of Anglesey / Ynys Môn	Môn	Shortened from the Welsh name for Anglesey
Isle of Wight	Vectis	Ancient Roman name for the county. Locals are called Vectensians
Kent	The Garden of England	From the county's produce of fruit and agricultural crops
Kincardineshire	The Mearns	From the Anglicisation of the Scots Gaelic word for The Stewartry
Lancashire	The Red Rose County	From the red rose symbol of the Duchy of Lancaster
Leicestershire	Leics	Shortening of Leicestershire
Lincolnshire	Lincs or yellowbellies	Shortening of Lincolnshire, old name for Lincoln’s yellow belly soldiers
County Londonderry	The Oak-Leaf County	Derry, an anglicisation of Doire, is Irish for oak grove, leading to an oak leaf being used on the county crest
Middlesex	The Capital County	Location of London, capital of England [5]
Monmouthshire / Sir Fynwy	Mons / Fynwy	Shortening of Monmouthshire / Shorthand from Welsh
Norfolk	Nelson's County	Naval officer Horatio Nelson born in Norfolk. [6]
Northamptonshire	Northants / Rose of the Shires	Shortening of Northamptonshire / Central position within England. [7]
Northumberland	Northd	Shortening of Northumberland
Nottinghamshire	Notts Robin Hood's Country	Shortening of Nottinghamshire From the legend of Robin Hood. [8]
Oxfordshire	Oxon	Shortening of Oxfordshire
Peeblesshire	Tweeddale	Due to being part of the district of Tweeddale
Pembrokeshire / Sir Benfro	Pembs / Benfro	Shortening of Pembrokeshire / Shorthand from Welsh
County Tyrone	The Red Hand County The O'Neill County "Tyrone among the bushes"	From the Red Hand of Ulster on the county's GAA crest From the Uí Néill, medieval lords. [9] Of unknown origin. Possibly popularised in a poem A Sigh for Old Times by Strabane poet William Collins [9] [10] [11]
Shetland	Zetland	From the archaic spelling for Shetland
Shropshire	Salop	From old abbreviations for Shropshire
Staffordshire	Staffs	Shortening of Staffordshire
Sussex	Sx	Shortening of Sussex
Warwickshire	Warks	Abbreviation for Warwickshire
Wiltshire	The Moonraker County	Local gin-smuggling story. [12]
Worcestershire	Worcs	Shortening of Worcestershire
Yorkshire	God's Own Country	Self-proclaimed

See also

• List of counties of the United Kingdom
• List of Irish county nicknames

References

1. Williams (31 August 2020). "Zoom Into Clackmannanshire". NLS. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
2. "THE PRINCE BISHOPS OF DURHAM".
3. Moore, Amanda (3 September 2012). "What Is A Hampshire Hog?".
4. Morton, Anna. "Hampshire: Jane Austen's County".
5. http://capitalcounty.co.uk/.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
6. Dann, Niamh (September 2021). "A 'Nelson's county' tour of Norfolk that retraces the steps of our most iconic historical figure".
7. Lucas. "So is Northamptonshire a good place to live? The most Googled questions revealed".
8. Pearce (6 April 2020). "The Robin Hood Trail: 20+ Amazing Robin Hood Places to Visit & Uncover the Legend!".
9. Hughes, Martin; Gerry Coughlan (March 2007). "Regional variations: County nicknames". Irish Language and Culture. Lonely Planet. pp.  195–202. ISBN   978-1-74059-577-3.
10. Corry, Eoghan (2005). The GAA book of lists. Dublin: Hodder Headline Ireland. pp. 182–3. ISBN   978-0-340-89695-2.
11. Dolan 2006, p.108
12. Castelow, Ellen. "The Moonrakers".