Place-names provide the most useful geographical references system in the world and hint about the origin of villages as embedded in local legend, history, mythology, ecology and epic stories. The Trans Giri region in District Sirmour is a hilly area shaping its own cultural landscape and naming their social space based on perception of their immediate physical and socio-cultural ethos. While analyzing, each place name is examined, their meaning and origin of etymology are traced, cross checked by field visits, published books and then are categorized in different groups. An attempt is made to enlist them according to their prefixes and suffixes. Out of total villages in the study area, 50.95 percent names are found to be associated with natural features like vegetation, and water bodies. 29.26 percent names are shaped by socio-cultural aspects and remaining 19.26 percent are placed under miscellaneous space names. These village names are the result of distorted word from generation to generation, that changed the very meaning and pronunciation of the place name
Place-Name, Settlement, landscape, features
