 The name means "southern defensive work" and is formed from the Old English "sūþ" (south) and "weorc" (work).The southern location is in reference to the City of London to the north, Southwark being at the southern end of London Bridge.In Old English, Surrey means “southern district (or the men of the southern district)”, so the change from “southern district work” to the latter “southern work” may be an evolution based on the elision of the single syllable ge element, meaning district.