why do Oxbridge colleges share the same name?

this is a mystery that has been buggin' my brains....

why are there colleges in Oxbridge with the same name?

presumably, since oxford is older, cambridge wanted to "copy"? or are these merely co-incidences? or are there really some sort of relation/link between the namesakes in each institution?

Each name has a different origin, and as all the colleges were established at different times no-one 'copied' anyone else. For example, St John's Oxford is named after John the Baptist whilst St John's Cambridge is named after John the Evangelist. Notice the difference between St CathArine's Cambridge and St CathErine's Oxford (named after different people). Also Queen's Oxford is named after one queen, whereas Queens' Cambridge is named after more than one (hence the subtle apostrophe difference).

ahh hildabeast, you should have gone one further (excellent description so far!) and mention the magdalen vs magdalene (mag-da-lin (oxford)vs maw-da-lin (cambridge))

Notice the difference between St CathArine's Cambridge and St CathErine's Oxford (named after different people).

Notice the difference between St CathArine's Cambridge and St CathErine's Oxford (named after different people).

this is a mystery that has been buggin' my brains....

why are there colleges in Oxbridge with the same name?

presumably, since oxford is older, cambridge wanted to "copy"? or are these merely co-incidences? or are there really some sort of relation/link between the namesakes in each institution?

Oxford is older in that some of the first colleges founded there are older than the oldest Cambridge ones (our oldest surviving one is Peterhouse, founded 1296, don't know about Oxford). At the time I don't think there was any great desire to "copy." Most of the colleges that share names have religious connotations (St. John's - regardless of which John, Jesus, Trinity, Corpus etc) as they were originally religious institutions, and there are only a certain number of religious names that are around, so presumably both wanted to grab them! We don't have a University college, which is Oxford's oldest (I think?), so I think most of the similarities are due to the religious aspect rather than the desire to copy.

Oxford is older in that some of the first colleges founded there are older than the oldest Cambridge ones (our oldest surviving one is Peterhouse, founded 1296, don't know about Oxford). At the time I don't think there was any great desire to "copy." Most of the colleges that share names have religious connotations (St. John's - regardless of which John, Jesus, Trinity, Corpus etc) as they were originally religious institutions, and there are only a certain number of religious names that are around, so presumably both wanted to grab them! We don't have a University college, which is Oxford's oldest (I think?), so I think most of the similarities are due to the religious aspect rather than the desire to copy.

and mention the magdalen vs magdalene (mag-da-lin (oxford)vs maw-da-lin (cambridge))

It's defo Maw-del-in in Oxford. No 'da'.

Peterhouse was founded in 1284.

Anyway, it's still the oldest, and Clare is second. Neither of these are copies of Oxford ones.

Having only heard and read the benefaction history at half-way hall a couple of weeks ago, that's not strictly correct. Clare was originally founded in 1326 with the name University Hall, which would be a copy of the Oxford college's name albeit a very generic one. Then in 1338 when Lady Clare endowed the college further it was renamed to Clare Hall, before eventually being renamed Clare College in 1856.

So yeah, we weren't very original in the first place, but we are now at least!

Alaric.

ok, is there actually a place called Clare hall now? I keep seeing people with the name
J

ok, is there actually a place called Clare hall now? I keep seeing people with the name
J