The Roman name for Pocklington is not known but it is thought that Pocklington might be the presently unlocated "Delgovicia", meaning "out of the way place" or, literally, backwater. However, Millington and Malton are competing candidates for this place-name also. By the time Ptolemy wrote his "Geography" in approximately 140 AD, he made no mention of Pocklington but instead referred to the capital of the Romano-British Parisi as being located in "Petuaria", near modern-day Brough. Given that the Parisi themselves were non-literate and Ptolemy was writing at some remove, it is difficult now to know whether their capital shifted from Pocklington to Brough, or whether it was always at Pocklington, or always at Brough.