These are Welsh names that people actually give their children, from long-established ones like Rhys and Angharad to modern word names like Seren ("star") and Eira ("snow"). Every name has a plain pronunciation guide, because Welsh spelling trips up English speakers more than the names themselves do.
We checked each meaning against Behind the Name and the Oxford Dictionary of First Names. Where the origin is disputed, or nobody knows, we say so instead of repeating a pretty guess. The rankings show how often each name was registered in England and Wales.
By Rich · 13 November 2026 · 104 names · 85 with their real rank in England and Wales · every meaning checked against the sources below
Checked The meaning is recorded in the sources below.
Disputed The meaning is disputed or popular but unproven.
The guides use plain English spellings, with the stressed syllable in capitals. Welsh stress usually falls on the second-to-last syllable. A few Welsh sounds have no exact English match:
ll (Llinos, Llywelyn) is written hl here. Put your tongue where you would for an l and blow air past the sides.
dd is the th in the, while th is the th in thin. So Dafydd ends in a soft th.
f sounds like v (Efa is EH-va) and ff like f (Ffion).
w and y are often vowels: w like oo, y like i in a last syllable and uh elsewhere.
rh is a breathy r, close to hr (Rhys, Rhiannon).
Accents vary between north and south Wales, so treat these as a good starting point, not the only correct way.
Old names, new names and Welsh forms
Welsh first names come in a few layers. Some are medieval Welsh names, like Angharad, Gruffudd and Hywel. Some are Welsh forms of names used all over Europe: Siân and Siwan are Jane and Joan, and Ifan, Ieuan, Iwan, Ioan and Siôn are all John. A large group are ordinary Welsh words used as names, mostly since the 1800s: Seren (star), Eira (snow), Enfys (rainbow), Heulwen (sunshine) and Bryn (hill).
That last group is where invented meanings creep in. Cerys is often said to mean "love", but it is a modern name and the link to caru, "to love", is an explanation rather than a record. Names from rivers and old regions, such as Eleri, Aled and Emlyn, are similar: the place came first, and the place name's own meaning is often lost.
Spellings and accents
Many Welsh names have an accent (Siân, Siôn) that registration systems and some forms drop. We list Sian and Sion without the accent so the official England and Wales rankings match, but Siân and Siôn are the Welsh spellings. If you choose one of these, it is worth checking how the name will appear on passports and school systems.
English spellings exist for several names: Owen for Owain, Evan for Ifan, Tudor for Tudur. They are pronounced differently, so pick the spelling that matches how you want the name said.
Old English and Anglo-Saxon Names: Recorded Anglo-Saxon names like Æthelflæd, Eadgifu and Ælfred, and the modern names that came from them, from Audrey and Edith to Alfred and Edwin.
Victorian Names: Ada, Florence, Edith, Albert, Arthur, Percy: 105 names that were really common in Victorian England, all in the official 1904 top 100, with meanings.
Names That Mean 'Star': Over 60 real names that mean 'star', from Stella, Estelle and Seren to Najm and Tara, with sourced meanings and the 'star' names that are myths.
Names That Mean 'Light': Over 70 real names that mean 'light', 'lamp' or 'brightness', from Lucy and Nur to Uriel and Kiran, with every meaning checked against a cited source.
Welsh Names and Surnames (Naming Library): How Welsh names worked: ap, ab and ferch, how Powell, Price and Bowen grew out of them, why Jones is so common, and what Welsh first names mean.
Patronymic Names (Naming Library): What patronymic and matronymic names are, and how they work in English, Gaelic, Welsh, Norman, Icelandic, Russian and Arabic naming.
What Is Onomastics? The Study of Names (Naming Library): Onomastics is the study of names. What anthroponymy and toponymy cover, and how scholars trace what a name meant from its earliest spellings.
Frequently Asked Questions
+What is the most popular Welsh name?
Of the names on this list, Dylan ranks highest in England and Wales: 72nd for boys in 2025. For girls, Seren, Nia, Eira and Ffion are the most used Welsh names.
+What are traditional Welsh names?
Medieval Welsh names still in use include Rhys, Owain, Gruffudd, Hywel, Dafydd and Llywelyn for boys, and Angharad, Gwenllian, Nest and Olwen for girls. Names such as Seren, Eira and Cerys are modern by comparison.
+How do you pronounce Welsh names?
Most Welsh letters are said as they are written, with stress on the second-to-last syllable. The main surprises are ll (a breathed l), dd (the th in "the"), f (said as v), w and y used as vowels, and rh (a breathy r). Every name on this page has a simple pronunciation guide.
Sources
Patrick Hanks, Kate Hardcastle and Flavia Hodges, A Dictionary of First Names, Oxford University Press (2006).