Welsh NamesWelsh NamesTom TaylorTom Taylor

Historic Patronymics

• In 1292, 48 per cent of Welsh names were patronymics, and in some parishes over 70 %

• By the 17th century the fixed surname was apparent in most of Wales although examples of the old naming tradition have been found in 19th century records

Patronymics

• Mab (Map) means “son of” in Welsh– Similar to Mac in Scottish or Mc in Irish– The Mab or Map reduced to just the final B or P– Bowen = Mab Owen, the son of Owen– Parry = Map Harry, son of Harry– Loads of early saints have these types of names:

Bennion, Bevan, Prichart, Price, – Llewelyn ap Dafydd ab Ieuan ap Griffith ap

Meredith– Upjohn (from ap John)

Welsh “S” Endings

• The Possessive or Genitive “S” ending means a possessive

• Loads of the most popular Welsh names are of this type

• Jones, Thomas, Roberts, Evans, Mathews, Williams, Lewis and Davis or Davies

Celtic Welsh Names

• Surnames derived from pure Celtic sources -

• Lloyd, Morgan, Gwynn, Vaughan, Meredith and Llewelyn

• Bach > Bychan > Fychan > Vaughan– Small or Junior

Place Names

• Often some names would become so repetitive that they would be augmented with the home town

• William Willaims, Pantycelyn is such a one.

• Wrote Guide Us O Thou Great Jehovah and other hymns

Name Distribution in Wales and England

•   WALES      • 1 Jones 13.84%• 2 Williams 8.91% • 3 Davies 7.09% • 4 Thomas 5.70 • 5 Evans 5.46 • 6 Roberts 3.69• 7 Hughes 2.98• 8 Lewis 2.97• 9 Morgan 2.63• 10 Griffiths 2.58   • Total 55.85

Occupational names in Welsh

• few occupational surnames exist in Welsh • Wales is a dominantly agricultural society • limited number of occupation surnames • Gwas (servant) became the Welsh surname

Wace • Crowther is another uncommon Welsh

surname derived from crythor, the player of the crwth

• The Welsh saer (carpenter) has become Sear/s around the Pembrokeshire-Carmarthenshire border

Biblical Names

• Most countries chose to use New Testament names, the Welsh were keen on OT names, often thought to be Jewish surnames in Wales

• Aaron; Abraham/Abrahams; Daniel/Daniels; Elias (the Welsh form of Elisha); Emanuel/Emanuels; Enoch, Gabriel, Isaac/Isaacs, Joseph/Josephs; Moses; Samuel/Samuels; Solomon; Jeremiah