The Roman Map of Britain Arbeia or Arueia South Shields, Durham

Arbeia (ND xl₇ illustration)
Arbeia (ND xl₂₂ text)

South Shields (nz3667)

    D. L. Kennedy in 'The Place-name Arbeia.' Britannia XVII (1986) p. 332-4 sees Arbeia as Aramaic ^cArbâyâ  'the Arabs' denoting the ethnicity of the Tigris barge-men of ND XL22. This explanation does not appear to be well-received.
    There is also a Late Latin baia 'inlet' (of uncertain origin), which prefixed with Celtic *ar- 'in front of" would describe the situation of South Shields as 'at the inlet'.

A more detailed and updated etymology of bay from Online Etymology Dictionary "inlet of the sea," 1385, from O.Fr. baie, L.L. baia (c.640), from Iberian bahia. [Iberian = Old Spanish]

   An astute observation was made by a member of the Brittonica discussion list to the effect that -eia was a suffix used with river-names, and suggested that Arbeia might represent Arueia.
    Considering the proximity of the place-name Jarrow, one must wonder if both Jarrow and Arbeia are correctly (or fully) explained. In ERN, compare Yarrow La p469f and Arrow Wo, Wa p16f. But arua- 'the swift one' seems an unlikely name for a swamp/tidal mud-flat or the river Don.