English / Map Form: Girvan
Gaelic Form: Inbhir Gharbhain
Location: South Ayrshire
Post Town: GIRVAN
County: Ayrshire
Local Authority: South Ayrshire
English / Map Form: Girvan
Gaelic Form: Inbhir Gharbhain
Element Meaning
G inbhir ~ confluence; Garbhain ~ river name
Sources
Innirgarvan’1253 RRS, 19 [Lennox Chrs. 12]
Girven 1275
Geruan 1329 RRS v no. 363
Invergarvane 1404 [From Chalmers’ Caledonia 539]
Additional Information
Discussed by Breeze (1999, 48–9), where he suggests British ‘rough one, harsh one’, originally applied to the Water of Girvan, related to Welsh garw ‘rough’.
