Religious

Prince Edward Island has several hagiographic (saint) names, many of which are associated with churches. Among these are St. Ann, St. Anthony, St. Charles, St. Chrysostome, St. Edward, St. Dunstan’s, St. Felix, St. Georges, St. Louis, St. Nicholas, St. Patricks, St. Margarets, St. Peter and St. Paul, St. Philip, St. Teresa and St. Andrews. Some of the hagiographic names, such as St. Hubert, St. Timothy and St. Roch, are also derived from personal names. Other religious names include Ascension, Bethel, Hebron, Leoville and Piusville. Also grouped with religious names are those with the word “mount”, which often indirectly commemorates events of the New Testament. Mount Carmel, Mount Hope and Mount Pleasant are grouped here.

Literary

Names derived from writers or published works include Green Gables and Lake of Shining Waters from Lucy Maud Montgomery’s “Anne of Green Gables”, and Johnny Belinda Pond. Milo may be derived from Greek mythology. The former postal designations of Trilby and Ruskin belong in this group.

Possessive Names

The largest class of names in Prince Edward Island is those named for local people. All ponds are named either for their developers or owners. Many points, creeks and brooks are named for families who lived beside them. Populated places named for local people number 47; they are: Kellys Cross, Lauretta, Leards Mill, Martinvale, Maximeville, Abrams Village, Alliston, Baldwin Road, Birch Hill (Lots 13 and 14), Byrnes Road, Christopher Cross, Crosbys Mill, Days Corner, Dingwells Mills, Elliotts, Gambles Corner, Gowanbrae, Glenmartin, Glenwilliam, Grahams Road, Harper, Hermanville, Higgins Road, Linkletter, Locke Road, MacDougall, McNeills Mills, Mount Herbert, Mount Stewart, Munns Road, O’Leary, Peakes, Peters Road, Pooles Corner, Profits Corner, Reads Corner, Rennies Road, Ross Corner, St. Eleanors, St. Gilbert, St. Hubert, St. Raphael, St. Roch, St. Timothy, Searletown, Urbainville and Village Green. Most of these populated places are minor centres, with only Mount Stewart, O’Leary and St. Eleanors being municipalities.

Most of the terrain and hydrographic features named for local people are relatively small. Exceptions are: Clarks Bay, east of Montague, which Samuel Holland had named Livingston Bay, one of his rare commemorative names for local residents; Founds River, Fullertons Creek; Holman Island; and Winchester Cape.

Descriptive Names

A descriptive name is one that provides a quality of the feature: colour, shape, size, relative location. Also included are those features that owe their names to local vegetation and animal life.

Colour Only three colours directly describe geographical features in Prince Edward

Island. The most common, in terms of both variety of names as well as variety of