Not wishing to stick my nose into the business of 'experts', but I have
noticed that in many ancient 'name-place' useages of 'AM' it may originate
with the ancient Roman-Britain 'Ambrosius'.--Just a thought---
Jane R.

Edwin Rose wrote:

> "The first stop is to consult the EPNS local volume...." someone
> wrote.
> True enough if one can get at it and if there is a recent edition. For
> example the Surrey edition dates from the 1930s and has some
> identifications that would not be followed nowadays.
>
> The first stop for the average user should be Ekwall's Oxford
> Dictionary of English Placenames. I notice that one of those
> replying on Eaton Constantine quotes his paragraph (without
> acknowledgement, I'm sure that was just an oversight).
> For Saltburn he gives the earliest form as dating to 1185 and the
> meaning as "salty stream". For Constantine in Cornwall the earliest
> mention is domesday book, "the church of St Constantine".
>
> Of course in some places it may be impossible even to get hold of
> this book....I know the feeling, stuck here in the middle of Norfolk
> the nearest Encyclopaedia Britannica is 20 miles away and not
> accessible without car parking difficulties
>
> So if some kind person has one to hand and could look up
> AMYAND for me and see if it was the name of a battle....
> (and before someone says use the Internet, that told me it was a
> town in Texas, which is not really relevant)