Languages and cultures
Welsh Names and Surnames
At a glance
For most of their history the Welsh had no fixed family names. A person was known by their own name and their father's, joined by ap or ab (son of) or ferch (daughter of), so the surname changed every generation. Fixed surnames spread from the gentry downwards from the 1500s, but in parts of rural Wales the old system lasted into the early 1800s. Because most new surnames were made from a small pool of first names, a handful of them, led by Jones, Williams and Davies, are shared by a very large part of the population.
- Son of
- ap (ab before a vowel), from mab, "son"
- Daughter of
- ferch, from merch, "girl, daughter"; often written verch in old English-language records
- Fixed surnames
- Spread from the 1500s; patronymics lasted in some rural areas into the early 1800s
- Most common surnames (1813–37)
- Jones, Williams, Davies, Thomas and Evans
Welsh names and where they come from
| Name | Meaning or origin | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Powell Welsh surname | from ap Hywel, "son of Hywel" [1] | Recorded |
| Price / Pryce Welsh surname | from ap Rhys, "son of Rhys" [1] | Recorded |
| Bowen Welsh surname | from ab Owain, "son of Owain" [1] | Recorded |
| Pugh Welsh surname | from ap Hugh, "son of Hugh" [5] | Recorded |
| Jones Welsh and English surname | "son of John", from the father's name plus -s [2] | Recorded |
| Davies Welsh surname | "son of David" (Welsh Dafydd) [2] | Recorded |
| Dafydd Welsh first name | the Welsh form of David, from Hebrew, usually explained as "beloved" [4] | Recorded |
| Emrys Welsh first name | the Welsh form of Latin Ambrosius, from Greek for "immortal" [4] | Recorded |
| Gwen Welsh first name | from gwen, the feminine of gwyn, "white, fair, blessed" [4] | Recorded |
| Rhys Welsh first name | an old Welsh name, often explained as "ardour"; the exact origin is debated [4] | Uncertain |
| Angharad Welsh first name | a medieval name usually explained as "much loved", from car, love; the analysis is not certain [4] | Uncertain |
| Bryn Welsh first name | the ordinary word for "hill", used as a first name in modern times [4] | Recorded |
| Cerys Welsh first name | a modern name linked to caru, "to love" [4] | Uncertain |
- Recorded Found in historical records.
- Uncertain The origin or meaning is disputed or unproven.
Son of, daughter of
Medieval Wales named people the way much of the Celtic and Norse world did: by descent. A man was Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Llywelyn son of Gruffudd, and if more was needed the chain went back another generation or two: Dafydd ap Ieuan ap Gruffudd.[1] The word ap is a worn-down form of mab, "son", and before a vowel it became ab, as in ab Owain. A woman was ferch, from merch, "girl, daughter": Gwenllian ferch Llywelyn. Clerks writing in English often spelt it verch, which is why family historians meet both forms.[1]
The change from m to f is the Welsh soft mutation, which alters the first sound of a word after certain other words. The same rule turns mab into fab in modern Welsh writing (Llywelyn fab Gruffudd), while the older reduced form ap survives in names.
Under this system the "surname" changed every generation. A son of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd would be ap Llywelyn, not ap Gruffudd.
How fixed surnames arrived
Fixed surnames came to Wales slowly, and from the top down. Gentry families with English connections adopted them first, from the 1500s onwards, as English law and English-language records spread after Wales was joined to England by the Acts of 1536 and 1543.[1] Ordinary people followed over the next two centuries, and in parts of the rural north and west patronymics were still in everyday use in the early 1800s.[2]
Two patterns produced most Welsh surnames:
- The ap merged into the name. Ap Hywel became Powell, ap Rhys became Price or Pryce, ab Owain became Bowen, ap Hugh became Pugh and ap Richard became Prichard.[1]
- The father's name took an English -s. John's son became Jones, David's son Davies, William's son Williams and Evan's son Evans.[2]
Many families simply froze the father's name as it stood, which is why Thomas, Morgan, Owen and Lewis are both first names and surnames.
Why so many Joneses?
In a survey of every parish marriage register in Wales from 1813 to 1837, John and Sheila Rowlands found that Jones alone accounted for nearly 14 per cent of people, Williams for almost 9 per cent and Davies for about 7 per cent. The ten commonest surnames covered more than half the population, a far tighter concentration than in England.[2][3]
The reason is the stock the surnames were made from. By the time ordinary families were taking fixed names, most Welsh boys were being given a small set of Christian names (John, William, David, Thomas, Evan, Hugh), so most new patronymic surnames came from the same few fathers' names.[2] In close-knit communities this produced the famous Welsh habit of nicknames by trade or place, such as Jones the Post or Evans the Milk.
Welsh first names
Welsh first names come from several layers:
- Biblical and saints' names in Welsh form: Dafydd (David), Ieuan (John) and Siân (Jane).[4]
- Latin names borrowed in Roman and early medieval times: Emrys, from Ambrosius.[4]
- Native medieval names: Rhys, Owain, Gruffudd and Angharad. The meanings of several of these are explained in more than one way, so treat popular one-word meanings with some caution.[4]
- Ordinary Welsh words used as names, mostly from the 19th and 20th centuries: Bryn ("hill"), Gwen ("white, fair, blessed") and Cerys, which is linked to caru, "to love".[4]
When you build a Welsh-style name for a story, the period matters. Gwilym ap Dafydd belongs to the Middle Ages, Gwilym Davies to the last three centuries, and a name like Cerys is a modern choice.
Building a Welsh-style name for a story
For a medieval character, use a first name and a father's name joined by ap (or ab before a vowel) for a man and ferch for a woman, and add a grandfather if two characters would otherwise share a name: Rhys ap Gruffudd ap Owain. A nickname from looks or trade, such as Goch (red) or Fychan (younger, later anglicised as Vaughan), was common too.[1]
For a character after about 1700, use a fixed surname instead, and expect it to be one of the common patronymic ones. A village where half the people are called Jones is not an exaggeration but the historical norm.