The name Fanna in Enköping

By Svante Strandberg

In: Ortnamnssällskapets i Uppsala årsskrift 2018

Summary

Fanna is the name of a district in the town of Enköping in Uppland. In 1529–30 there was a mill here called Fanna kvarn, on a tributary of the river Enköpingsån. In pre-Christian times, an arm of Lake Mälaren extended as far as Fanna. There is a former wetland in the area, called Fanna mosse. The author considers it likely that the name Fanna originally referred to water with marshy shores, or marshy ground. It could for example be related to a Scandinavian word fan(a) ‘plant fibre, dry shell, pollen’ etc.