A sign welcomes drivers to Ipswich on Norwich Road. - Credit: Archant Suffolk has continuously been settled since the 5th century, so it’s no surprise its place names have changed countless times over the years. But how did we get the names we know today, and why are they so important? Monks Eleigh-based A.D. Mills is an Emeritus Reader in Medieval English at the University of London, a member of the Council of the English Place-Name Society and a member of the Society for Name Studies in Britain and Ireland. He has spent years studying the origins and meanings of a variety of English place names, including those here in Suffolk.