* Contact: Emil Holms Kanal 2, 2300 Copenhagen S, Denmark, jggj@hum.ku.dk Onoma 56 Journal of the International Council of Onomastic Sciences ISSN: 0078-463X; e-ISSN: 1783-1644 Journal homepage: https://onomajournal.org/ Naming holy wells: A case study of names on sacred springs in Denmark Johnny Grandjean Gøgsig Jakobsen * Department of Nordic Studies and Linguistics University of Copenhagen, Denmark To cite this article: Jakobsen, Johnny Grandjean Gøgsig. 2021. Naming holy wells: A case study of names on sacred springs in Denmark. Onoma 56, 235–250. DOI: 10.34158/ONOMA.56/2021/12 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.34158/ONOMA.56/2021/12 © Onoma and the author. Article history Received on 10 December 2020. Final form accepted on 11 December 2021. Published online on 13 December 2021. Naming holy wells: A case study of names on sacred springs in Denmark Abstract: The majority of the 720 historically-known springs in Denmark have been accredited with healing power of supernatural origin, manifested in their names and/or local folklore tradition still supported by cultic rituals celebrated way into the nineteenth century. While only 2.5 per cent of Danish spring names explicitly appear to be of pagan origin, at least 32 per cent were dedicated to Christian saints or named from other ecclesiastical terms, whereas 25 per cent had the religiously neutral name Helligkilde. Based on a case study of spring names in the region of north-western Sjælland, the whole question of age is discussed, just as several cases show how spring names and their attached folklore etymology are not always to be taken at face value. Keywords: Place names, holy wells, folklore, Denmark.