Finch
Finch - OE ceaffinch, finc, goldfinc, linetwige, *pinca, ragotwige, thisteltwig
One of those root names that has barely changed from Old English, and that earlier form little changed from even earlier Proto-Germanic. It is onomatopoeic, as is evident to anyone who has heard a chaffinch giving its characteristic ‘fink! fink!’ The other suffix occurring in old finch names, twige, is a word meaning ‘twig, branch’ in Old English, so probably transfers the food plant (linseed, thistle etc) directly to the bird that feeds on it, similarly to omer (emmer wheat) producing amer, the old name for bunting or perhaps specifically the yellowhammer (see the page for bunting).
Finch is relatively common in place names, which befits this colourful, charismatic, well-known and commonly observed family of birds.
Finchale Priory (Co Dur)
Fincham (Nor)
Finchampstead (Berks)
Finchdean (Hants)
Finchfield (Staffs)
Finchley (GLond)
Finchley (lost, Cambs)
Finkley (Hants)
Pinchbeck (Lincs)*
Finches appear in charters relating to the following places: Childswickham, Worcs (8th cen.), Meon, Hants (10th cen.).
Sources (see ‘About’ page for the full bibliography): Watts, Cambridge Dictionary; Ekwall, Oxford Dictionary; epns.nottingham.ac.uk; Gelling and Cole, Landscape of Place-Names; langscape.org.uk.