Slingsby

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. This is an English family name ; it also names a small village in North Yorkshire, England
2. It serves as a surname of English origin ; it also refers to a rural village in northern England
3. It is a surname common in England ; it additionally denotes a village in the Ryedale area of North Yorkshire

Etymology: Slingsby is a village in Ryedale, North Yorkshire, and the name is typical of the Danish-influenced place names of northern England. The ending "-by" comes from Old Norse and means "farmstead" or "settlement," and it was common across the region after Scandinavian settlers arrived in the late ninth and tenth centuries. The first element is less certain. It is probably a Norse personal name, though the exact name is not reliably recovered. As a surname, Slingsby was taken from the village by people who lived there or came from it, a pattern typical of English surnames. The name is also attached to Slingsby Aviation, the glider maker founded in Kirbymoorside, near the village, which took its name from the company's founder, Fred Slingsby. The company's sailplanes were widely flown in British gliding clubs in the mid-twentieth century.