Dover The Port of Dover provides much of the town's employment, as does tourism. First recorded in its Latinised form of "Portus Dubris", the name derives from the Brythonic word for waters ("dwfr" in Middle Welsh. The same element is present in the town's French ("Douvres") and Modern Welsh ("Dofr") forms (though the modern Welsh name is in fact a borrowing from, and an adaptation of, the English name Dover), as well as the name of the river Dour and is evident in other English towns such as Wendover. The current name was in use at least by the time of
Place name origins only have little relation to the Roman names (e.g. Chester - 'Deva', Winchester - 'Venta Belgarum' etc.). Many English places derive part of their name from the river upon which they were built, but in the 16th century many English rivers were renamed with back-formations from towns on their banks. Cambridge, perhaps uniquely, illustrates both effects: originally "Grontabricc", a bridge on the Granta, the name became "Cantebruge" and then "Cambrugge", from which the river was renamed Cam. The vast majority of place names in Wales are Welsh by origin, containing elements such as Llan-, Aber-, Pen- etc. Along the south