Where does “Fife” come from?

Fife comes from Scottish Gaelic Fiobha, of unknown origin.

Fife (English): succeeded by Fife Region in 1975, situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with landward boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire

Definitions

  1. succeeded by Fife Region in 1975, situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with landward boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire

Ancestry of “Fife”, step by step

Fife traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via German Pfeife

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1GermanPfeifewhistle; pipe
2Middle High Germanpfīfe—
3Old High Germanpfīfa—
4Proto-West Germanic*pīpāflute
5Vulgar Latinpipapipe
6LatinpipoI pip, peep

via Scottish Gaelic Fiobha

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Scottish GaelicFiobha—

Words derived from “Fife”

Every word from Latin pipo →Every word from Vulgar Latin pipa →Every word from Proto-West Germanic *pīpā →