World-Wide Wednesday: Welsh Baby Names

Beaumaris Castle Anglesey Wales United Kingdom

Welsh baby names are very interesting. Traditional names have their own rules that may make the names complicated to pronounce for those who are not familiar with them.

I've found a website that studies Welsh names from medieval times and breaks down specific elements within the names. It was actually a bit over my head but I definitely want to share those links if you're interested in more of the etymology:  Link #1 | Link #2  | Link #3

Let's start with a bit of information about surnames in Wales. From the 15th century onward, families adopted a fixed family name. Before that, they used a patronymic naming system in which a "surname" was derived from the child's father's name. This kind of naming was especially telling for the male line throughout the generations. Typically, a person's baptismal name would be linked to their father's baptismal name by the letters ap or ab (son of) for a boy, and ferch (daughter of) for a girl. As an example, Evan son of Thomas would be known as Evan ap Thomas.

This naming method gave rise to boys whose surnames could be extremely long to incorporate the names of their fathers and grandfathers for several generations. For example, it was common to have a name that looked like this: Llewelyn ap Dafydd ab Ieuan ap Griffith ap Meredith. This was in place by Welsh law so that it was obvious to see how people descended from which ancestors. Later, these laws were abolished in the Middle Ages and replaced by a fixed family surname system that was easier to keep track of. However, there was still an element of patronymic names being used in varous forms until the early 19th century and especially in rural areas. Areas with strong English influence and wealth were the first the drop the patronymics system.

As this surname transition occurred, the new fixed surnames were morphed from the old system. For example, the surname Powell came from ap Hywel and Bowen came from ab Owen. Price comes from ap Rhys and Pritchard comes from ap Richard. The ap and ab were eventually dropped altogether in favor of simply adding an S to the end of a name like Jones, Roberts or Edwards. This was influenced by the English. It is also common that people with the same surname in an area are completely unrelated, having simply chosen the same surname. Jones, Williams and Thomas are among the most prevalent surnames. A survey estimated that about 9/10ths of the Welsh population have a total of just one hundred surnames.  Source.

As for Welsh first names, they are on their own level. If you were to look up Welsh names and browse a list of them, you'll noticed that most of then end with -yn, -on, -en, or -in. There are many that have Y's and W's in them as well.  Here are some examples of traditional Welsh boy names that may be unfamiliar to the non-Welsh:

Boys:                                                       Alwyn Arwel Bedwyr Bleddyn Braith Brynmor Cadfael Cadoc Cadwalader Caerwyn Caradoc Cledwyn Dafydd (David) Deiniol Delwyn Drystan Einion Eirian Emlyn Emrys (Ambrose) Ffransis Gawain Gethin Glyndwr Gruffudd Gwillym (William) Gwythyr (Victor)

Heddwyn Heulog Hywel Iago (Jacob) Idris Ieuan (John) Islwyn Llewellyn Macsen (Maximus) Madog Maredudd (Meredith) Meurig (Maurice) Neifion (Neptune) Owain (Eugene) Padrig (Patrick) Pedr (Peter) Rheinallt (Reynold) Rhisiart (Richard) Rhydderch Sawyl (Samuel) Siarl (Charles) Sieffre (Geoffrey) Siorus (George) Talfryn Tomos (Thomas) Urien Wynfor Yorath

And here are some examples of girl names with a Welsh origin:

Aderyn                                                   Aeronwen Afanen Alis (Alice) Anwen Bethan (Elizabeth) Betrys (Beatrice) Blodeuwedd Briallen Bronwen Carys Catrin (Katherine) Ceridwen Crystin (Christine) Deryn Disgleirio Efa (Eva) Eilwen Eirlys Elin (Helen) Enfys Esyllt (Isolde) Ffraid (Bridget) Gladys Glynis Gwen Gwendolen Gwyneth

Hefina Heulwen Hyledd Lleucu (Lucia) Llewella Lowri (Laura) Mair (Mary) Marged (Margaret) Megan Meinwen Morgan Morwen Myfanwy Nesta (Agnes) Nia (Niamh) Olwen Paderau Rhiannon Rhonwen Rhosyn Seren Sian (Jeanne) Sioned (Janet) Siwan (Joan) Tegan Tiwlip (Tulip) Winifred Wynne

What do you think of these Welsh names? Have you ever known someone with a name like this? Source. 

Of course, in modern day Wales, the most popular baby names tend to match up more with English tastes than with old tradition. In fact, most of the time, England/Wales are categorized together just like that. This means that most of the names being given to Welsh babies are English favorites like Harry and Amelia. 

Let me know what your thoughts are about Welsh baby names! If you're from Wales, feel free to offer some insight or more information regarding names. Note: I am not Welsh nor have I ever been to Wales, so if any of the above information is incorrect or lacking, please let me know!  Thanks for reading!