What is the significance of a town designation? By, Mark, Strand

[Lynn Christiansen]

I answer to another query that I recently posted I noted a town designation that raised a question in my mind as to the significance or meaning of, for the lack of a better understanding on my part, a town with possibly any one of the following designations:

1) By
2) Mark
3) Strand
4) Are there other designations?

What is the meaning and importance of these additives? Are they names of specific locations or descriptions of nearby geographical entities?

For example, a town name with "By"--- does this mean a location that is "near BY" this town but not necessarily directly "in" the town?
"mark" does this mean a location that is in a rather 'level area' near a designated town?
Does the additive "strand" mean near a beach which may be close by the designated town?

The questions arose when I asked for help with the transcription of a place and Iger provided me with "Bredballe Stand" but when I research the town name all I could locate was "Bredballe", hence why the addition of 'strand'?


I am trying to gain a better understanding of why at times one might see a town name with one of these additives.

[Grethe Leerbech]

Hey Lynn
In answer to your questions.

"By" means town.

and to the "by"name one can add, both mark and strand. Often it is to tell more accurately where peopl elived, or it could also tell, that it is a newly inhabitated place, or it is in the outskirt of the town/village. 
f. ex. my ancestors moved out to "Skringstrup mark", which was a quite new place, which later became a village and the addition "mark" dissapeared. So the addition with mark and strand means either a place near the village or town  or a new place, which shall be inhabitated.
One can also find "bro" as bridge, and "ager" as field, but later on it has been ex. "Nørager" instead of "Nørre ager" for north field, or
south bridge - "søndre bro"/ "sønder bro"  became to "Sønderbro",  maybee there could be more additions after the name of the village/town.
greetings
grethe

[Ole Westermann]

In the old days the villages were named 'by' - you nearly never see the word 'landsby' (village) in the records.
They were in fact very small communities.

'Mark' (field) was a place outside the village. In the village the farms and houses were lying very close to eachother, which you can see at the old maps.
Around 1760-1800 started the 'udflytning' (moving out) from the villages - some farms were broken down and rebuilt outside the village - on the 'mark'.

Strand (beach) is an area at/near the coast.

mvh Ole

[Ole Westermann]

About Bredballe strand:

Here is a cadastral map from Bredballe 1869-1896
https://hkpn.gst.dk/mapviewer.aspx?type=o2k_oekort&id=42163&elav=1121951  - you can zoom in and move around as you like

Hans Andersen was prob. born in one of the houses near the coast in the bottom, where his father was living as a fisherman.
Here at the census 1890 - https://www.sa.dk/ao-soegesider/da/billedviser?bsid=58632#58632,12137085  fam. nr. 4

[Lynn Christiansen]

Thank you all--

Your comments help with my understanding of some of the Danish methodologies in naming locations and helps explain why at times one cannot find a "specific" location.

Again thank you.