Jamaican place names range from the commonplace to the bizarre. Densely
distributed across the map of the island, they not only intrigue the visitor and the
resident but also provide clues to Jamaica’s past landscapes and its social and
economic history. Written from a historical and geographical perspective by two
authors with an intimate knowledge of the island, this book presents an entirely
new approach to the study of Jamaican place names. Maps and other sources
dating from the earliest years of European contact to the twenty-first century are
used to compile a database of over 20,000 names. Analysis provides clues to the
culture and national origins of the dominant planter population who were the
major name-givers but also include many names with distinctive Jamaican “creole”
meanings. Today, Kingston, May Pen, Rio Bueno, Me No Sen You No Come,
George’s Plain Mountain and Content, names derived from a variety of sources,
are all equally Jamaican and equally fascinating. Jamaican Place Names is written
for both the scholar and the general reader with an interest in the island’s
landscapes and history.
“There is nothing like this for the Caribbean and very few analyses of this depth
and sensitivity for any other former colonial society. It is a thought-provoking
study that should prompt readers across the West Indies to think about what
particular place names mean and what sort of societies generated them. The book
will change the way that people view place names across the region. It should also
encourage comparisons with Jamaica’s experiences well beyond the Caribbean
too . . . It will be widely read and cited.”
– James Robertson, Senior Lecturer in History, University of the West Indies, Jamaica
“This is the work of master craftsmen who weave meticulously the methodologies
of historian and geographer to produce, out of a confusing galaxy of Jamaican
place names, a coherent and thoughtful exposition on the complexities of place
names in creole Jamaica.”
– Patrick E. Bryan, Douglas Hall Professor of History, University of the West Indies,
Jamaica
B.W. Higman is William Keith Hancock Professor of History in the History
Program, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University;
and Professor Emeritus, University of the West Indies. His award-winning
publications include Slave Population and Economy in Jamaica, 1807–1834; Jamaica
Surveyed: Plantation Maps and Plans of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries;
Montpelier, Jamaica: A Plantation Community in Slavery and Freedom; and Plantation Jamaica, 1750–1850: Capital and Control in a Colonial Economy. His most recent book is Jamaican Food: History, Biology, Culture.
B.J. Hudson is Adjunct Professor in the School of Urban Development,
Queensland University of Technology, Australia. From 1971 to 1985, he was a
member of the Department of Geography at the University of the West Indies,
Jamaica. In addition to his academic work at the University of the West Indies,
he has served as an urban and regional planner for the governments of Jamaica
and Grenada. His major books include Cities on the Shore: The Urban Littoral
Frontier; The Waterfalls of Jamaica: Sublime and Beautiful Objects; and Queensland: Geographical Perspectives.
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Jamaican Place Names
