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Welsh Names

Welsh Names. Tom 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.

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Welsh Names

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  1. Welsh Names • Tom Taylor

  2. 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

  3. 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)

  4. 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

  5. Celtic Welsh Names • Surnames derived from pure Celtic sources - • Lloyd, Morgan, Gwynn, Vaughan, Meredith and Llewelyn • Bach > Bychan > Fychan > Vaughan • Small or Junior

  6. 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

  7. 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   • Total55.85

  8. 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

  9. 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

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