Am I pronouncing the town of Raynham's name right? Hint: it's not 'rain-am'
RAYNHAM — The Raynham Police Department recently reminded residents that the town's name is correctly pronounced "rain-ham," in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter).
“Ever since I was a kid in the 80’s, when people would move to town, they’d say ‘rain-am’ and we’d have to correct them,” said Police Lt. Peter Beatrice, who wrote and published the post on Oct. 9.
According to Beatrice, it’s such a pet peeve of longtime residents that Raynham Selectman Joe Pacheco has brought up the correct pronunciation multiple times in selectmen meetings.
“When people are new to town or to a business, he always makes sure they know how to correctly say the town’s name,” said Beatrice.
“It’s been one of those things that is a pet peeve of people who live in Raynham, when other people from other towns call it ‘rain-am’ when we call it ‘rain-ham.’ It’s always been a hot topic with people here and they always make comments about it,” said Beatrice.
“It’s an unusual way to pronounce it,” he said. “But it’s just how we pronounce it here in Raynham. It’s a sign you know someone grew up here.”
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A history of Raynham
According to The Old Colony History Museum’s Curator of Collections Bronson Michaud, the town of Raynham was originally part of the town of Taunton, which was founded in 1639 by English settlers. Before that, the area was home to members of the Wampanoag tribe.
In Patrice White’s The History of Raynham, published in 1988, she writes that the town of Raynham was officially incorporated into its own entity on April 2, 1731. The original settlement had about 30 families when it broke off from Taunton, she said.
According to White, the separation was spurred by residents wanting to separate from Taunton to establish their own church.
"Reasons states from their petition for separation included dissatisfaction because of distance from church and school and the transportation difficulties," she writes.
In 1793, the Rev. Perez Forbes published a topographical description of the newly formed town of Raynham.
“It is bounded on the east by Bridgewater; on the west by Taunton; on the south by the river called Taunton Great River, and on the north by Eastown (Easton), Bridgewater, and a part of the Nippaniquet pong,” he writes.
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Why Raynham?
According to White’s publication, many of Raynham’s earliest settlers came from Raynham in Norfolk County in England. It was also the seat of power of Viscount Charles Townshend, whom many of the settlers respected.
“The settlers chose Townsend’s seat of power, Raynham, as the name for their new town. However, we could have been called Viscount or Townshend,” White wrote.
How to pronounce Raynham?
“If you live in Raynham, you know we pronounce it ‘rain-ham,’" said Beatrice.
This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: How locals pronounce the town of Raynham's name
