Welsh Names Explained

A Genealogist explains traditional Welsh naming practices.
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#Genealogy #WelshHistory
Public Domain Images:
• creativecommons.org/publicdoma...
Llewelyn ap Gruffudd
• commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Breanski 1895 North Wales
• artvee.com/dl/in-north-wales
Hywel Dda
• hdl.handle.net/10107/4400109
Ward 1800 Swansea
• artvee.com/dl/view-near-swans...
Eisteddfod National 1909 Poster
• hdl.handle.net/10107/5721246
Other Images
Cwmsarnddu Chapel
• www.geograph.org.uk/photo/420...
• Alan Richards, 2014
• creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
All other images copyright and owned by GenealCymru.

[@ErgonBill]

My parents were Welsh and emigrated to Australia during the 50s. My father spoke Cymru fluently and tried to teach me as a child but we both became frustrated and gave up because I couldn't roll my r's. My loss - beautiful language.

[@GenealCymru]

It's never too late to start learning. Even if it's just a few words at a time. My grampie's father was the last allowed to learn Welsh in my family, but I've been learning some myself through my research :)

[@eviejones3996]

im welsh speak welsh never could say R let alone roll them. Its a struggle but you can still manage without it!

[@mochardiansah7452]

I've always been a fan of Welsh language. I didn't know if their cultural heritage is as fascinating as well. Now I love it more and more

[@richmorris2870]

My middle name is Gwynfryn, which is also my father's middle name - my father comes from the small village near the border in north Wales called Glyn Ceiriog.

[@breepowell8632]

I'm like not even a full minute in but your voice is like a gentle hug.

[@FLguzzirider]

That explains why my grandfather was named Richsrd John and his brother was John Richard.

[@GenealCymru]

Those names must have been especially important to your great grandparents!

[@kittmiller2212]

i am the 5th Katherine on my 2nd great grand mothers side and 4th Katherine on my dad's mothers side going back to my 2nd great grandmother's side from Ireland, on my paternal father's side there are 8 generations of Katherine's in a row, when I finished 25 years of family heritage i was totally amazed. My Dad's Paternal side was from Ireland, Scotland, German, my grandmother lost two babies, and named Dorothy II after Dorothy. My grandmother spoke the Cornish Language, and perfect English, I am happy to learn the Cornish language has 500 speakers now 20 years ago there were very few Cornish speakers.

[@kittmiller2212]

I so enjoyed Welsh naming practices, TYSM

[@GenealCymru]

That's so cool to find. Finding all the people I'm named after in my tree makes them all feel so much closer. Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@elizabethmcglothlin5406]

There's a sad side of ancestral naming. My mother, sister, and I were named for, in order, a dead younger sister (polio) my great-grandmother, and my great aunt. When my grandmother became senile she was pitifully confused about who we were. Almost made me wish I was a Janet.

[@GenealCymru]

Oh wow, yes that is very sad. Times like those are very difficult. Thanks for sharing.

[@hedydd2]

Around here, in Cerdedigion, we are quite commonly known by or trade, farm or house name which substitutes for our surnames informally and in known company. So ‘Lewis y Glo” “John y Gof”. Also nicknames are used, such as Salt for Alen. My daughter, although married and long left home, is still universally known by her long term friends as Siân [farm name]. By far the most common is the trade or occupation naming, while still retaining the official surname. There is an increasing trend of using the same male christian name as one’s father led by an ‘ab’ or ‘ap’. So ‘Dylan ap Dylan’ with a second son being perhaps Meilir ap Dylan and so on. Believe me that the language and culture is still alive and kicking. I ni yma o hyd, just in case people were wondering.

[@GenealCymru]

Thanks for sharing! One thing I find interesting is that people often leave comments about how ap and ab are being used more often these days. But never do they say the same for ferch and merch, which to me says that there's probably something interesting going on around gender, masculinity, language, and nationalism in Wales.

[@Jamestele1]

I'm a Jones and my father was Thomas Powell Jones. I love this channel Dai the KZbin. I'm sure you know the old nickname style, where there's 100 Evens in one town, so you associate them with their career or hobby, i.e. "Jones the Voice", etc. Another great video

[@GenealCymru]

Thanks :) Yeah, I only know a couple from my family. There was Des the rats, cause he was a rat catcher. Mari'r Felin. I grew up Dai bach :) I'll take Dai the KZbin though aha. Glad you're enjoying!

[@davinadavies474]

Wow, this is so interesting. You explain it all so clearly.

[@CarlsLingoKingdom]

Glad I decided to give my child a Welsh name in keeping with this honorable tradition! ☺

[@GenealCymru]

Nice!

[@charleneford2851]

Wow really learning a lot about my ancestors! Thank you

[@GenealCymru]

Glad you're enjoying the videos aha

[@ChelleLlewes]

Aaaahhh...it looks like my own family followed tradition in the naming of sons! I finally know why my grandfather (oldest of three) wasn't named for his father. I always wondered why the youngest son was named after their father. Thank you so much!

[@GenealCymru]

Very cool! It's awesome to see the tradition play out in real life too. Glad you enjoyed the video :)

[@marilyn1244]

My grandmother's name was Gwen Davies, and my middle name is Gwen. My mother's favorite brother was Kenneth, and she named her first son Kenneth.

[@bdavis7801]

This helps a lot!

[@GenealCymru]

Very happy to help! :D

[@kirbyward2001]

Very interesting and enjoyable

[@GenealCymru]

Glad you enjoyed! :D

[@TheCWMHALL]

This explains why so many William and Edward in my family . I gave my son his grandfather's name Guillaume ( William ) as he was born in France .

[@henrygingercat]

Many thanks and you’ve certainly explained the source of many of my ancestors’ names ( including all the William Williams and Owen Owens) down to my older brother (who apparently insisted I be called Peter rather than William thus breaking probably centuries of tradition). But I’ve never understood from where my grandmother, b. Denbigh 1878 got her name Jane - rare everywhere in the UK in those days at a guess.

[@GenealCymru]

Glad you enjoyed and that it resonated. We still follow the pattern too, just not very strictly. My name was to be Dai or Megan, after my 2x Uncle/Aunt. And as for Jane, it probably came from someone. I have a couple lines that used Jane too, but it's not really the most common like you said.

[@jameswilliams3241]

​@@GenealCymru I had an aunt we called Jeanne whose real given name was Sian.

[@aledmorgan4889]

Thanks for sharing despite being Welsh i didn't realise that the naming patterns were so structured. Tbh iv named my two daughters after their grandmother's as a mark of respect as opposed to following any naming patterns 😀. For what it's worth Llandybie is literally down the road from me. Diolch

[@GenealCymru]

Very cool. I feel like that's related in a kind of unconscious way which is how a lot of cultural practices get passed down. The video might make it seem like people sat down to calculate birth order and what name to give, but a lot of times it would have just felt like "the thing that you do." My family is the same way.

[@tomservo5347]

I know my great-great grandparents were full on Welsh from Caernarvon, Edward and Elizabeth Morgan that immigrated to the US in the 1880's. Family lore was that Edward was a mason and bricklayer that built the chimney to the local church and that people had a hard time understanding him because of his thick Welsh brogue. I recently learned that Caernarvon, Wales is the bastion of the Welsh language and locals are called 'Cofis'.

[@GenealCymru]

Very cool! Thanks for sharing. My Grampie had the same issue where people said they couldn't understand him. I never found he had that much of an accent really.

[@emyrdavies9445]

I’m a Davies, born and raised in Gwynedd, but patriarchal grandfather from Merthyr Tydfil.

[@davidjones535]

I do know that I'm named after a younger brother of my grandfather who name who died at the age of eight David , my middle name is Alan and last Jones , my nephew Samuel is named after my brother and my grandfather and his middle is Anthony after his mother's father , family left Wales in the early 1880s but we do try to keep the old ways going .

[@GenealCymru]

Very cool! I have a whole study going on for the name Anthony for people who have connections to the Lampeter area. It's quite the rare name in that area.

[@res00sky]

Thank you for sharing this. My grandmother was named Florence OLWEN Rowe, from Pontypridd. We have never known anything about her middle name, Olwen. It doesn't appear, so far, in any ancestors name. Would certainly like to know more about it though.

[@GenealCymru]

I've only seen 2 instances of Olwen in my own research. 1 was from the family mentioned in the video with the interest in the Eisteddfodau. The other was a descendant of an old yeoman family that lived at Olwen Farm in Lampeter.

[@user-ql1jv1dw8s]

Olwen means 'white footprint' in Welsh. The name comes from the legend of Culhwch and Olwen and according to the legend white flowers would grow anywhere she walked.

[@jameswilliams3241]

@@user-ql1jv1dw8s thank you for that a late paternal aunt was Olwen but I didn't know until she passed some years ago, but my latest granddaughter was given the name Olwen Frances after her. My paternal great grandmother was Florence.

[@reggy_h]

My own family tree (19th century) has one group of siblings call Shadrach, Messac and Abednigo (probably spelled wrong) and sprinkled around a lot more names from the Bible particularly the first Testament. I also found two families where the first son was called Richard both of whom died very young and the next son in both cases was also called Richard. Obviously a cherished name. I'm in the Rhondda Valley.

[@GenealCymru]

That's the thing that's so cool about Welsh naming practices for me. Names are cherished, like you said. And names like your Shadrach, Messac and Abednigo must be a treat to trace. I haven't encountered anyone with names like that in my family tree.

[@jameswilliams3241]

@@GenealCymru Shadrach Meshac and Abednigo are Biblical names from the book of Daniel. They were the 3 Hebrew youths thrown into a fiery furnace for not bending the knee to an idol set up by the king of Babylon. They were able to walk unscathed with the help of God's angel. The family must have been very Biblically literate.

[@jodyhamabata5127]

My maternal Great grandmother was Jane Emma Edwards b. 1863 in Leeswood Mold, Flint, Wales (she was a midwife), her mother was Mary Ann Prydderch (she was a (town bread baker) Nain y Pant (not sure of the spelling), Mary Ann had a first cousin with the same name about the same age but she married Davies. I know because her descendent was a DNA match.

[@jodyhamabata5127]

My earliest known Edwards ancestor is Simon Edwards b. 1794 d. 1860 Llanamon-yn-lal, Denbighshire, Wales; not sure but we believe his father was Edward Edwards who m. Catherine Bryan in 1789 in Denbighshire, Wales

[@GenealCymru]

Very cool! Thanks for sharing! The town break baker is a really interesting job! I don't think any of my ancestors were involved in cooking at that scale.

[@jameswilliams3241]

I had an aunt who we always called Bontie, don't know where that came from, but when she passed I found out that her given name was Olwen Frances Williams. I had never heard the name Olwen but found out that there had been a number in the past. My sons' recently born daughter, March 11,2023 was given the name. There have been a number of Bronwyns as well including my middle daughter. My boys are Rhys, Ivor, Trevor ,Kyle and James. I'm James Morgan after my father and grandfather. We all carry hand me down names LOL.

[@GenealCymru]

Very cool. Olwen is a very pretty name. It means a lot to name children after their elders. :)

[@lagerku.3137]

I just did a quick check. I'm the second son, so I should have my maternal grandfather's name (Edward), which is actually my middle name, so... looks like my mother knew what she was doing.

[@GenealCymru]

Very cool!

[@barbaraallen435]

My great grandfather was William Williams and his eldest son had the same name

[@GenealCymru]

I love our double name ancestors :D I've got a William Williams 4x great grandfather

[@ultrafree9597]

I am from the Sons of AODH Clan. David Davies from Glamorgan Wales b1765, who most likely came from the Dal Cassians in Ireland. M222 Genetics --> R-FT132323, Uí Fiachrach, Cenél Feradaig Dathíi the last pagan King of Ireland. (there are only two of us on this branch --> my father Dan Hall Davis and I, Shane Patrick Davis)

[@susancrawford5927]

Hi: My father was Welsh, born in south Wales. His mother's surname was Samuel. At one time I thought she might have Jewish background and was told it was like using the first name, last name. Is Samuel a traditional Welsh first name? I can't find it anywhere. I do know my grandparents families have been in Wales for much longer than the Jewish settlers in the late 1800's though so not a part of that group. I'd appreciate any info on Samuel.

[@GenealCymru]

I've found some Samuels in my tree going back as far as the early 1700s. In all of their cases, they were from non-conformist families. Mine were mostly Wesleyan Methodists, who sometimes named their children different Biblical names than their Anglican peers did. I have an older video on Welsh nonconformity if you're interested, called "Welsh Religion Explained" and one on how to find your Non-conformist ancestors in the Genealogy records.

[@susancrawford5927]

@@GenealCymru Many thanks for responding so quickly, I will be sure to watch the video. From Canada.

[@patriciatolliver4057]

Patty- My father's middle name is Griffin. I've always wondered where he got that name. His parents had passed before he grew up, so I have no one to ask. Could this be a Welch name?

[@GenealCymru]

Interesting. Griffin could definitely be a variation of the Welsh name Griffith.

[@aiferapple1246]

I'm Welsh and how I got my name was due to my mother and father deciding on a name that they liked....and then calling me it

[@GenealCymru]

Good for you!

[@aiferapple1246]

@@GenealCymru LOL :D ...... Which was Andrew..... a Scottish name PMSL So that really how we do it in Wales

[@barnowl5774]

Thanks for your interesting and informative video. A first generation Australian, of DNA estimated 70% Welsh, here. Regarding names - My great-grandfather was David Price Taylor, born in 1871 in Devynnock, Breconshire, Wales. No father was recorded on the birth certificate or appears in his life. In early life records he sometimes hyphenated the Price to Taylor ie. Price-Taylor. (His mother's surname was Taylor. Her mother's surname before marriage was Rees.) I am trying to work out - 1. If the father's name was put on the birth certificate via the first two names, eg. David Price. 2 .If the Price was ap Rees, named after her family line or the name of another Rees who could be the father. I have been checking out my Ancestry DNA matches, but it is complicated by also having Rees relations. I have some probable contenders. Any ideas?

[@GenealCymru]

Glad you enjoyed. At first thought, there may be some hints in the names of David's children. Are there any names that don't fit with his partner or his mother's families. And then looking into that. 1871 is a bit late for patronymics like that, so I'd probably keep looking for Prices rather than Reeses.

[@barnowl5774]

@@GenealCymru Thanks for that very good advice and I will research with with that in mind. Much appreciated.

[@nobodyqwertyu]

But what do you do if the parents are the eldest sibling and thus don't have an elder sibling to name the fourth daughter or son after?

[@GenealCymru]

They'd likely just use the name of their next sibling. I don't think most people were concerned with using the naming pattern 100% perfectly and there was a lot of room for choosing other family names. But I've found that people almost always chose names that were already in use in their family.

[@gedprobert9814]

my family names are Probert meaning ap robert welsh son of robert my mothers surname is Evans welsh for johns Probert from monmouthshire and Evans denbighshire l live in caerphilly and love my welsh history but im 25% irish from my mothers mother d'arcy from wexford so i am not 100% welsh but that doesn't stop me following wales rfc

[@GenealCymru]

Nice! Thanks for sharing :)

[@mike-williams]

A little gotcha that sholuld be mentioned is that "cousin families" may replicate a nearly identical naming structure, depending on how the genders of their children manifest. So for example two sisters, each having their own children will replicate the same names for their daughters, and brothers will do that for their sons. Add into this the not uncommon practice of sisters marrying brothers or the small pool of first names used, and you can have these cousins with the same names, all born around the same time in the same location. Also, the practice of recycling names of dead siblings will further confuse the research: Parish records for a quarter may have many duplicate names where some of the parents names are duplicated as well! For those who do not track the records of their ancestors very carefully, it is easy to go off track and pick a cousin of your ancestor instead of your actual ancestor. This is mitigated to a small degree in that the next generation back will share at least one pair of identical parents, but you're still left with a mistake that can multiply as you go further back and the lines diverge. I had a bit of trouble untangling my Welsh ancestors in the late 1900s because of this name repetition and intermingling of families. I often found Ancestry.com trees that people had published where these errors were really evident. I think the people researching them kind of gave up.

[@GenealCymru]

Yes, it's very important to not focus too much on names being proof of relationship when doing Welsh genealogy. That's one of the things I like to highlight throughout my videos. You need to be paying attention to things like addresses, occupations, religion, etc.

[@mohammedhussein6985]

What about the Name Gronowy

[@GenealCymru]

Definitely a Welsh name. I looked into it and it seems to have fallen out of use for a while and then came back into fashion in the last couple centuries.

[@eifionthamos756]

Does anyone know what the name Eifion means?

[@GenealCymru]

I can't really offer more than what Google says, but there's a place in Caernarvonshire called Eifion and it's an old Welsh name. So it might be connected to that place which is cool.

[@eifionthamos756]

@@GenealCymru I’ve searched google and still nothing conclusive. I asked because I thought you might’ve known. Would be good if you did a video on some old names like mine where you researched and attempted to debunk it for the millions that have old welsh names but don’t have the resources to research their meanings 🙂 thanks again for your reply. You didn’t disappoint

[@GenealCymru]

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll note it down :)

[@eifionthamos756]

@@GenealCymru thanks a zillion & on behalf of all the clueless yet curious Eifion’s around the planet I’d like to say thank you….

[@clutegoodwin8559]

I hope to get in contact with you...I'd love to talk with!

[@GenealCymru]

You can send me an email at GenealCymru [at] outlook [dot] com :)

[@clutegoodwin8559]

I'm sending an invite to my tree if that's ok?

[@garmit61]

Go back further i. Time and you’ll find names like Dafydd ap Rhys ( David son of Rees) like Johnson ( son of John) in English or Johansen (Scandinavian languages , but not Finnish). English is quite a modern language so you eventually need to discard modern preconception and return to the pre Saxon and Norman ways of naming each other.

[@Grahamisthesword]

It’s a shame that there seems to be very few traditional welsh names like olwen, maddox, Bryn, Merwyn. They mostly seem to be Christianised or Latin names like Timothy and Elizabeth, John, Mary

[@GenealCymru]

Yeah, like everything, names change with the fashions. Names that speak to how people identify in the present get kept, and ones that don't, drop out of use. I find that there was a big change, especially in women's names around the start of the 18th Century. Before then, there's plenty of Dyddgus and Angharads and by the 1841 Census, I don't think I've seen any in the places I research.

[@Suprahampton]

Not what I was expecting, with the name Gerwyn. I was expecting an explaination of my name

[@GenealCymru]

There's lots of websites out there that will tell you more about your specific name. I don't normally look up first names, but if you're interested in any Welsh surnames, the site I normally use is: www.surnamedb.com/ Your name isn't there, but I'm sure there will be another site that can help you.

[@Suprahampton]

@@GenealCymru Thanks, i'll look up my Surname, see if it's there

[@GenealCymru]

No worries. From other videos it seems like people would be interested in short videos like "Here's what this Welsh name means," so I'll add that to the list of ideas. Hope you find something interesting on your surname! :)

[@Suprahampton]

@@GenealCymru Turns out to be Scottish?! That's dissapointing

[@maureentaphouse5206]

@@Suprahampton one of my distant cousins who was in my class at at school in West Wales married a lad in our school who was also called Gerwyn. I must admit though I haven't heard of anyone else with that name but I know nothing about his family.

[@MrAllmightyCornholioz]

TARAN BLESS THE WELSH

[@Steve-xz9gp]

Davies Clan! 😘

[@Aubrey_Harris]

I have two middle names, all of my names could be first names or surnames, and all have some family connection!

[@GenealCymru]

Very cool

[@deenalight9271]

I'm Deena gweneth Jones until I got married

[@Mike-xb8kq]

Williams came tonewwoorld from Wiltshire but family history said originally Welsh but research I did came Up with coat of arms motto on Welsh

[@GenealCymru]

Be cautious with the coat of arms that come up online. A lot of them are made up or misappropriated. But that's really cool that you were able to find where your ancestors came from in Britain!

[@geofacts1358]

Your Welsh pronounciation bro, I know your trying your best, but when non-welsh people pronounce things it sounds so funny! and everyone tries their best to pronounce them but they are still terrible. Eich ynganiad Cymraeg bro, dwi'n gwybod dy fod ti'n trio dy orau, ond pan di-Gymraeg yn ynganu pethau mae'n swnio mor ddoniol! ac mae pawb yn ceisio eu gorau i'w ynganu ond maent yn dal yn ofnadwy.

[@aledmorgan4889]

I fod y deg o ni'n meddwl bod e wedi gwneud ymdrech deg yn enwedig gyda "Llanfair Clydogau" , rwy wedi clywed lot gwaeth

[@geofacts1358]

@@aledmorgan4889 Rwy'n cytuno

[@GenealCymru]

You're free to join my patreon at one of the higher tiers so that I can use that money to take Welsh classes. Also, I am Welsh. So deal with it. www.patreon.com/GenealCymru

[@GenealCymru]

Also, you can have a listen to an old video called, "Speak Bad Welsh Shamelessly" where I talk a bit about the history of why some Welsh people struggle with pronunciation and the history that comes with that. Cause we can pretend like the history of economic depression and poverty in Wales didn't send thousands of out of the country where they wouldn't be exposed to the Welsh language, like it did my family, but ignoring history leaves us ignorant: kzbin.infoZZsoSxnfRu4?feature=share

[@maureentaphouse5206]

That was a bit unnecessary but then I expect some of my attempts would get the same reaction despite being from a mainly Welsh family background.