es through 

Oxford is sometimes called the Isis. Historically, and especially in Victorian times,

gazetteers and cartographers insisted that the entire river was correctly named the Isis from its
source down to Dorchester on Thames and that only from this point, where the river meets the
Thame and becomes the "Thame-isis" (supposedly subsequently abbreviated to Thames) should
it be so called. Ordnance Survey maps still label the Thames as "River Thames or Isis" down to
Dorchester. Since the early 20th century this distinction has been lost in common usage outside
of Oxford, and some historians suggest the name Isis is nothing more than
a truncation of Tamesis, the Latin name for the Thames. Sculptures
titled Tamesis and Isis by Anne Seymour Damer can be found on the bridge at Henley-on-
Thames, Oxfordshire (the original terracotta and plaster models were exhibited at the Royal
Academy, London, in 1785. They are now on show at the River and Rowing Museum in Henley).
[8]

Richard Coates suggests that while the river was as a whole called the Thames, part of it, where
it was too wide to ford, was called *(p)lowonida. This gave the name to a settlement on its banks,
which became known as Londinium, from the Indo-European roots *pleu- "flow" and *-nedi "river"
meaning something like the flowing river or the wide flowing unfordable river. [9]
For merchant seamen, the Thames has long been just the "London River". Londoners often refer
to it simply as "the river" in expressions such as "south of the river". [10]
The river gives its name to three informal areas: the Thames Valley, a region of England around
the river between Oxford and West London; the Thames Gateway; and the greatly
overlapping Thames Estuary around the tidal Thames to the east of London and including the
waterway itself. Thames Valley Police is a formal body that takes its name from the river,
covering three counties. In non-administrative use, the river's name is used in those of Thames
Valley University, Thames Water, Thames Television, publishing company Thames &
Hudson, Thameslink (north–south rail service passing through central London) and South
Thames College. An example of its use in the names of historic entities is the Thames Ironworks
and Shipbuilding Company.

Administration