Upper Saxony
It was particularly to distinguish the lands from 'Lower Saxony', a concept which arose later in popular usage (though never enforced) as a term for the original Saxon lands in north and west Germany (where Low German dialects had spread), in what is now the state of Lower Saxony, as well as the adjacent Westphalian region, Holstein and the western part of today's Saxony-Anhalt north of the Harz range (Eastphalia).
Saxons
Some Saxons already lived along the Saxon shore of Gaul as Roman foederati. They can be traced in documents, but also in archeology and in toponymy. The "Notitia Dignitatum" mentions the "Tribunus cohortis primae novae Armoricanae, Grannona in litore Saxonico". The location of "Grannona" is uncertain and was identified by the historians and toponymists at different places: mainly with the town known today as Granville (in Normandy) or nearby. The "Notitia Dignitatum" does not explain where these "Roman" soldiers came from. Some toponymists have proposed Graignes ("Grania" 1109–1113) as the location for "Grannona"/"Grannonum". Although some scholars believe it could be the same element "*gran", that is recognised in Guernsey ("Greneroi" 11th century), it most likely derives from the Gaulish god Grannos. This location is closer to Bayeux, where Gregory of Tours evokes otherwise the "Saxones Bajocassini" (Bessin Saxons), which were ineffective against the Breton Waroch II in 579.