'The bungalow' among top house names

Who says romance is dead?

The third most popular house name in Britain is now "The bungalow".

The functional - if less than Arcadian - moniker beat traditional favourites such as "Keepers Cottage", "The Willows" and "The Old Vicarage" in the list compiled by insurer Norwich Union.

But the study, based on analysis of the company's records, found that rustic charm still holds some sway for many, with traditional favourites "The Cottage" and "Rose Cottage" coming top.

The craze for converting old wrecks also appears to have made its mark with "The Barn" making it into the top 10.

Outside of the top 50, the old chestnut "Dun Roamin'" remains popular - cropping up 100 times in the company's records, Norwich Union found.

But it appears to have spawned a raft of eccentric variants such as "Dun Talkin", "Dun Soldrin", "Dun Servin", "Dun Farmin" and - perhaps for those who have struck it rich on the property market - "Dun Struglyn".

A YouGov poll accompanying the study found that the British tradition of christening our homes is alive and well.

Nearly one in three (32%) of those polled said that they live in a house with a name and a further 30% said that they would consider personalising a new home by naming it.

Simon Warsop, head of data and statistics at Norwich Union, said: "The great British tradition of naming homes is still going strong and our data shows that the public are more than happy to poke fun at themselves or their lifestyles with their house names.

"There may even come a time when the Rose Cottages are replaced by the Dun Everythings.

"Our data also shows that we're still proud of where we live and we want our homes to reflect our personalities - however weird and wonderful they might be."

While the tradition of naming houses began with aristocratic halls, manors and castles, the custom has spread across the population over the centuries.

An Act of Parliament in 1765 required addresses to have a number and street name but did not prevent homeowners also coming up with a name.

Researchers were baffled by the meaning of one name which came up around 100 times in the records: "Llamedos".

While some thought it was a reference to a villa in Spain or a fictional country created by the novelist Terry Pratchett, others suggested it may be intended to be an insult spelt backwards.

The top 10 house names are:

1. The Cottage

2. Rose Cottage

3. The Bungalow

4. The Lodge

5. The Coach House

6. Woodlands

7. Orchard House

8. School House

9. The Barn

10. The Willows

:: YouGov polled 2,292 adults online between March 14 and 16.

Copyright Press Association 2007

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