http://www.theuniversityofjoandeserrallonga.com/kimro/amryw/1_enwau/enwau_bedydd_cymraeg_geiriadur_1_1265e.htm

Yr Hafan / The Home Page

 

..........1864e Y Fynedfa yn Saesneg / The Gateway in English

 

....................0010e Y Barthlen / The Siteplan in English

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1872e Enwau - Tudalen Ymgyfeirio / Names - Orientation Page

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1937e Cyfeirddalen i Enwau Bedydd / Forenames - Orientation Page

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0316e Cyfeirddalen i Enwau Bedydd Cymru / Welsh Forenames - Orientation Page

....................................................................y tudalen hwn / this page
                                 


baneri
..




Gwefan Cymru-Catalonia
La Web de Gal·les i Catalunya
The Wales-Catalonia Website


Geiriadur enwau bedydd Cymraeg
Dictionary of Welsh forenames
 
Enghreifftiau o enwau bedydd a ddefnyddir yn y Gymru sydd ohoni, ac ambell rai o’r gorffennol
Examples of Welsh-language first names presently in use, along with some that were used in past times

 

Part 1 - Names from A - M

 

 

 xxxx Y tudalen hwn yn Gymraeg (ddim ar gael eto)

 xxxx Aquesta pàgina en català (no disponible encara).

 

 

 

2525e Introduction to Welsh forenames


1 -a
2 (
-
3 PRONUNCIATION: a
4 NOTES:

(1) added to male names to make feminine forms - Aeron > Aerona,

Eifion > Eifiona,

Hefin > Hefina,

Ifan > Ifana,

Meirion > Meiriona,

Morgan > Morgana,

Owen > Owena

 

(2) added to place names to make feminine forms - Alwen > Alwena

 

(3) added to common nouns to make feminine names

awen > Awena (but see division 4 following)

 

(4) added to existing female names to create new names

Awen > Awena

Elin > Elina,

Mair > Meira,

Nest > Nesta

1
Ábraham
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: A-bra-ham
[ˈabraham]
4 NOTES: Biblical name Abraham

1
Abram
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: A-bram
[ˈabram]
4 NOTES: Reduced form of Abraham

1
Adda
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: Â-dha
[ˈaˑða]

4 NOTES: Welsh form of Adam. Latin ADÁM- > British ADÁM- > Welsh ADDÁF- > ÁDDAF (shoft of accent) > ADDA.

 

The change of British ‘d’ to Welsh ‘dd’, and British ‘m’ to Welsh ‘f’ [v] is usual.

 

The loss of a final [v] in polysyllabic words is another usual feature of Welsh, especially at colloquial level, and can be traced as far back as the 1100s.

 

In this name the ‘f’-less form has been the ‘official’ form for many centuries, and the form Addaf is obsolete.

1
Aeres
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: EI-res
[ˈeirɛs]
4 NOTES:

1
Aeron
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: EI-ron
[ˈeirɔn]
4 NOTES: Name of a river in Ceredigion. See note at the bottom of the page

1
Aerona
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: ei-RO-na
[eiˈroˑna]
4 NOTES: man’s name Aeron made feminine through the addition of the suffix -a (qv)

1
Aeronwen
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: ei-RON-wen
[eiˈrɔnwɛn]
4 NOTES: (Aeron) + (-wen); the man’s name Aeron made feminine through the addition of the suffix -wen

1
Aeronwy (Aeronwÿ)
2 (name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: ei-RO-nui
[eiˈrɔnui]
4 NOTES: river name Aeron with a fanciful river-name suffix -wy. See -wy

1
Afan
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: A-van
[ˈaˑvan]
4 NOTES: (1) river name,
South-east Wales (2) saint’s name - Llanafan

1 Alban
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: AL-ban
[ˈalban]
4 NOTES:
The eldest son of the antiquarian, author and naturalist George Owen of Henllys (1553-1613), by Trefdraeth in the county of Penfro, was called Alban Owen (born 1580).

 

The town of Aberaeron in Ceredigion is a small planned town dating from 1807 based on an existing hamlet, the creation of a local Anglican clergyman, the Reverend Alban Jones-Gwynne.

 

In 1868 Alban Thomas, Esq., of Ty^-glyn, was Sheriff of the county of Cardigan. (today’s county of Ceredigion).

 

The name would be that of Saint Alban, the first martyr of the island of Great Britain, around the year 304. Alban was a pagan who sheltered a Christian cleric during a period of persecution of Christians by the Romans. He was converted to Christianity by the cleric, and when his hiding place was discovered, Alban, wearing the cleric’s cloak, gave himself up pretending to be the man he was sheltering. Having refused to deny his Christian faith before a judge, he was put to death. The event is said to have taken place in the town of Verulanium, nowadays the English town of Saint Albans .

 

‘Yr Alban’ is Welsh for Scotland, but this seems an unlikely source for its use as a forename in Wales, though it may have influenced the choice of the name in some cases.

 

Iolo Morgannwg (Edward Williams 1747-1826), a stonemason, bard, antiquarian, and collector and forger of manuscripts, invented the term Alban Hefin for ‘summer solstice’ (the expression is used by him in a manuscript from 1795) and in some instances this too might have accounted for its use as a forename. The forename Hefin (qv) seems to be from this expression..


1
Aled
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: Â-led
[ˈaˑlɛd]
4 NOTES: river name, North-east Wales

1
Als
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: ALS
[als]
4 NOTES: equivalent to English Alice (A-lis). Not used currently.

1
Alun
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: Â-lin
[ˈaˑlɪn]
4 NOTES: river name,
North-east Wales; also river name, South-west Wales (by Tyddewi, ‘St. Davids’).

 

In his English-Welsh Dictionary (1850), Caerfallwch states (completely erroneously) that there is a word alun, made up of al (supposedly “a prefix occasionally used. It is of the same import as very, great, and high, of the English”) and un (one), to give a word meaning “the chief one”. Some may have been given the name in the belief that it had an explicit meaning, and that meaning was the one in Caerfallwch’s dictionary.

1
Alwen
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: AL-wen
[ˈalwɛn]
4 NOTES: river name, North-east Wales

1
Alwena
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: al--na
[alˈweˑna]
4 NOTES: Alwen (see preceding entry) + -a (suffix for forming girls’ names)

1
-an
2 (
-
3 PRONUNCIATION: AN
[an]
4 NOTES: used in diminutive forms - usually in the pattern ‘monosyllabic element + i’. This is usually the first syllable of a name.
Elisabeth > Beth > Bethan
Dafydd > Dei > Deian
Marged > Meg > Megan

1
Andreas
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: an-DRÊ-as
[anˈdreˑas]
4 NOTES: Welsh form of Andrew

 

1 Aneirin
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: a-NEI-rin
[aˈneirɪn]
4 NOTES:



1
Aneurin
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: a-NEI-rin
[aˈneirɪn]
4 NOTES: variant of Aneirin

1
Angharad
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: ang--rad
[aŋˈhaˑrad]
4 NOTES:

1
Ann
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: AN
[an]
4 NOTES: English ann, Anne. A borrowing from English. The diminutive form is
Nan, which is either from older Welsh ‘fyn Ann’ (= my Ann) (in modern Welsh this would be fy Ann, f’Ann), or more likely from English ‘mine Ann’ (= my Ann). With suffixes, Nani [NA-ni], Nanw [NA-nu], Nans [Nans]

1
Annes
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: A-nes
[ˈanɛs]
4 NOTES: Agnes AG-nøs

1
Anwen
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: AN-wen
[ˈanwɛn]
4 NOTES:
5 ETYMOLOGY:


1
Anwylyd (Anwÿlÿd) [aˈnuilɪd]
2 (name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: a-NUI-lid
4= “darling” (annwyl = dear), + (suffix -yd). Rare. No longer given as a forename

1
Arianwen
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: ar-YAN-wen
[arˈjanwɛn]
4 NOTES: (‘silver’) + (suffix ‘-wen’)
 
1
Arthur
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: AR-thir
[ˈarθɪr]
4 NOTES: from British < Latin: An example of theis name from the mid 1700s is Arthur Evans (1755-1837), born in Y Felindre, Pen-boyr, Sir Gaefyrddin, a Methodist hymnwriter.

1 Arwel
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: AR-wel
[ˈarwɛl]
4 NOTES:

 

1 Arwγn (Arwÿn)
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: AR-win
[ˈarwɪn]
4 NOTES:

5 ETYMOLOGY: adjective found in Welsh literature from the 1200s onwards = fair, handsome

(AR- intensifying prefix) + soft mutation + (GWŸN = fair, white, pure, blessed)

 

1 Aurfron
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: This ought to be EIR-vron
[ˈeirvrɔn], as the name should be Eurfron. Usually pronounced though as written AIR-vron [ˈairvrɔn]
4 NOTES: Variant spelling of Eurfon.

 

Eufron is a more correct form. Meaning: ‘golden breast’.

 

From (AUR = gold) + soft mutation [b] > [v] + (BRON = breast).

 

The diphthong ‘au’, in the syllable before last, properly becomes ‘eu’ in the formation of compound words in Welsh.

1
Awel
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: AU-el
[ˈauɛl]
4 NOTES: “breeze”

1
Awen
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: AU-en
[ˈauɛn]
4 NOTES: “muse, inspiration of a poet”

1
Awena
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: au-Ê-na
[auˈeˑna]
4 NOTES: Awen (see preceding entry) + -a (suffix used to form female forenames)

1
Bedo
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -do
[ˈbeˑdɔ]
4 NOTES: familiar form of the name Maredudd [ma-RE-didh] - probably originating in an infant’s pronunciation of the name. It became an independent name, and the patronymic ap Bedo was Englished to form a fixed surname ‘Beddoe, Beddoes’. Not now used as a baptismal name

1
Begw
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -gu
[ˈbeˑgʊ]
4 NOTES: familiar form of the name Marged [MAR-ged] - probably originating in an infant’s pronunciation of the name

1
Berwyn (Berwÿn)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: BER-win
[ˈbɛrwɪn]
4 NOTES: mountain name, north-east
Wales. The place names means ‘snow-capped’, since the mountain top is white when the snow has not yet reached the low-lying parts or has already melted in the lowlands. (bar = peak) + soft mtation + (gwyn = white). The vowel ‘a’ becomes ‘e’ through the influence of the folllowing ‘y’.

1
Bethan
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -than
[ˈbeˑθan]
4 NOTES: = Betty. From “Beth”, final syllable of
Elizabeth, and the diminutive suffix “-an”.

1
Beti
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: BE-ti
[ˈbɛtɪ]
4 NOTES: Diminutive form of Elísabeth [e-LI-sa-beth], and equivalent to English Betty. The English form is rather the final syllable Bet of Elisabet (with ‘t’ rather than ‘th) + the English diminutive suffix ‘i’. Beti is most likely this English form Betty taken into Welsh, and is unlikely to be Bet + Welsh diminutive suffix -i. The element Bet though is used in the native formations (probably from the late 1700s or early 1800s) Betsan and Betw.

1
Betsan
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: BET-san
[ˈbɛtsan]
4 NOTES: A diminutive form of Elisabeth, and equivalent to English Betty
(1) Bet from Elisabeth;
(2) with the additon of -s > Bets;
(3) and the addition of the diminutive suffix -an > Betsan

 

In use as a baptismal name.

1
Betw
2 N
ame for a female. Diminutive form of Elísabeth. No longer used.
3 PRONUNCIATION: BE-tu
[ˈbɛtʊ]
4 NOTES: Not in use as a baptismal name.

1
Bleddyn (Bleddÿn)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: BLÊ-dhin
[ˈbleˑðɪn]
4 NOTES: ‘little wolf’. A variant of Bleiddyn. Blaidd = wolf; the penult form is bleidd-; -yn is a diminutive suffix.
Blaidd + yn = Bleiddyn.

1
Blòd
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: BLOD
[blɔd]
4 NOTES: Pet form of Blodwen

Not used as a baptismal name.

1
Blodwen
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: BLOD-wen
[ˈblɔdwɛn]
4 NOTES: (BLOD- root of BLODYN or BLODEUYN = flower) + (feminine suffix -WEN).

 

Pet form: Blòd.

 

Very popular at the end of the 1800s and at the beginning of the 1900s; it was the name of a popular opera in Welsh by Sir Joseph Parry (1841-1903), of Merthyrtudful. He began work at the age 9 as a collier boy in Merthyr; but four years later his family emigrated and he was a resident for eleven years from the age of 13 until he was 24 (1854-1865) of Danville, Pennsylvania, where he worked in the steelworks. He later returned to Wales, and at the age of 33 was the first Professor of Music at the University College of Aberystwyth (1874). The opera Blodwen was written in 1880 when he was 39.

 

Now definitely an older generation name, and apparently no longer given. See also Myfanwy

1
Braid
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: BRAID
[braid]
4 NOTES: Name of a female saint, found in the common church dedication Llansanffráid (church of saint Braid). Same as Bríd in
Ireland.

1
Branwen
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: BRAN-wen
[ˈbranwɛn]
4 NOTES: probably the same as BRONWEN

1 Briallen
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: bri-Â-lhen
[brɪˈaˑɬɛn]

4 NOTES: In current use.

5 MEANING: ‘primrose’


1
Bronwen
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: BRON-wen
[ˈbrɔnwɛn]
4 NOTES: (BRON = breast) + (-WEN = fair)

1
Bryn (Brÿn)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: BRIN
[brɪn]
4 NOTES: ‘hill’.

1
Brynach (Brγnach)
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: BRØ-nakh
[ˈbrəˑnax]
4 NOTES:

1
Buddug
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -dhig
[ˈbiˑðɪg]
4 NOTES: Victory,
Victoria. In British, Buddug was Boudicca (‘Boadicea’), the name of a the woman leader of the Iceni tribe who led a revolt against Roman rule in 62A.D. and poisoned herself on being defeated. Given in the past (late 1800s, early 1900s), the name may have been inspired by the English queen Victoria; nowadays such obsequiousness to the monarchy of another country is unusual among Welsh-speakers, and it is taken to refer to the British female warrior.

1
Cadfan
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: KAD-van
[ˈkadvan]
4 NOTES: Name of a saint, found in the place name Llangadfan.

1
Cadog
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -dog
[ˈkaˑdɔg]
4 NOTES: Name of a saint, found in the place name Llangadog.

1
Cadwaladr
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: kad--la-dør
[kaˈdwaˑladr]
4 NOTES: In English, sometimes found as Cadwallader.

 

The colloquial form is Dwalad. [ˈdwaˑlad]

Final -r after certain consonants is lost in colloquial Welsh:

ffenestr (window) > ffenest [FE nest],

cebystr (noose) > cebyst [KE bist]

 

“Cadwallader” is an English spelling of the name. The grapheme ‘ll’ in Welsh represents an aspirated ‘l’, which this name does not have.

1 Cadwgan
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: ka--gan
[kaˈduˑgan]
4 NOTES: Cadwgan Jones, an emigrant to the
USA from the county of Meirionnÿdd (“Merionethshire”) was the editor of the short-lived “The Welsh American Magazine” (1929-1936).

 

 

 


1
Caerwyn (Caerwÿn)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: KEIR-win
[ˈkeirwɪn]
4 NOTES:

5 ETYMOLOGY: (CAER) + (-WŸN, suffix for forming male names, = white, handsome, pure, blessed).

 

Possibly the first element is taken from Breton KAER (= beautiful, handsome).

 

In old Welsh literature the word caerwys occurs a couple of times, for which the Geiriadur Prifysol Cymru / University of Wales Dictionary suggests tentativly the meaning ‘fair, beautiful’, (CAER unknown element) + (suffix -WŸS).

 

Or possibly a hypercorrect form of the name Carwyn. Colloquial Car-dÿdd is standard Caer-dÿdd, Carffili > Caerffili, Carnarfon > Caernarfon, Carfyrddin > Caerfyrddin, etc. The first element car- of the name Carwyn was ‘restored’ to caer.

1
Cai
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: KAI
[kai]
4 NOTES:

 


1
Cambria
2 (
name for a male or female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: KAM-bri-a
[ˈkambrɪa]
4 NOTES: Apparently not in use in
Wales, though in the past it seems to have been in use as a middle name.

 

There are a couple of instances of its use by Welsh emigrants.

 

One genealogy website notes a use of Cambria as a female name - a woman named Cambria Jones, who was 1904. The father was born in “Pennsylvania or Wales”. The name may allude though to Cambria County, Pennsylvania, rather than directly to Wales.

 

An genealogy website has an example of Cambria as a male name. Daniel Williams was born 31 Jul 1852 in Strata Florida, Cardiganshire, Wales. He died 19 Apr 1920 in Ocean Mines, Maryland. One of his eight children was Cambria Williams (13 Jul 1897-13 Sep 1960).


1
Caradog
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: ka--dog
[kaˈradɔg]
4 NOTES: from ‘carad-’, = loved (car- = root of the verb caru = to love, -ad = a suffix formerly used to make adjectives).

 

This element is also found in the forenames Angharad (name for a female) (an + carad) and Ceredig (name for a male) (carad + ig).


Caradog fab Cynfelyn was a British (i.e. proto-Welsh) tribal king, of the tribe whose name in Latin was the ‘Catuvellauni’. (Caradog fab Cynfelyn is how he is called in modern Welsh - the form in British would have been somewhat different - e.g. Caradog < Karatákos).

 

He was the leader of an unsuccessful seven-year revolt (43 - 50 AD) against the Roman administration of the island of Britain. In AD43 the Roman army invaded his territory (in what is now part of south-east England) and defeated the defenders in a battle at Medway. Caradog fled to what is now south-east Wales, to the territory of the tribe called by the Romans the Silures (an adaptation of a British name). This was probably because of their reputation as hardy fighters, and also to avoid retreating to the territory of the neighbouring Trinovantes, who had been subjugated by his father Cynfelyn, since he felt he would be betrayed by them.


The Romans established a line of forts along the
Fosse Way between Lincoln and Exeter (a straight road with a fosse or ditch on either side). The road went through the territory of the conquered British people the Dobunni (in Latin). Caradog carried out a number of raids against Roman convoys, but the Romans later built a fort near modern-day Gloucester, at a place where the village of Kingsholm now stands. This stopped his incursions into Roman-occupied territory.


He tried to link up with the Britons of the north of the peninsula, in what is today North Wales, referred to by the Romans as the Ordovices, a Latinisation of a native name, but he was defeated in a battle against the Romans on a hill in what is today mid-Wales. There are several places in central
Wales called Caer Caradog (Caradog’s fort). The battle was probably not fought at any of these places - they are most likely later names when the memory of this famed British defender was still vivid and applied to imposing forts to which local storytellers had connected his name.


He fled to the territory of the Brigantes (as the Romans called them) - in what is now
Yorkshire in northern England. The queen, Cartimandua, had however previously reached an agreement with the Romans to be left in peace if she took no part in resistance against Roman rule. Not wishing to break this pact and suffer the consequences she handed Caradog over to the Roman authorities. He was taken in chains to Rome to be put to death but he persuaded the Emperor Claudius to let him live as a free man in the city, promising that he would not try to escape. He died four years later in AD 54.


(1) A contracted form of Caradog is C’radog
It is typical in Welsh for the vowel in an unstressed syllable before a stressed syllable to disappear between certain consonants-
(k + vowel + l) becomes (kl), (k + vowel + r) becomes (kr),


Other examples of this compression are the place name Caletryd (hard ford) becomes C’letryd, and calennig (new year’s gift) becomes c’lennig. The name Carannog becomes C’rannog.


The patronymic ap Caradog / ap C’radog (“son of Caradog”) was Englished to form a fixed surname ‘Craddock’.


(2) As we have seen, the British form would have been Karatákos, and the name in Latin was Caratácus [ka-ra-TA-kus]. The Anglicised form of this Latin name is the somewhat garbled Caractacus [kø-RAK-tø-køs].


(3) The name was popular since Caradog was a symbol of resistance against invaders; and it has continued in use through the centuries to the present day (though apparently a bit thin on the ground in the 1600s, 1700s, 1800s. It has enjoyed a revival in the 1900s, though it is fairly infrequent)

1 Carannog
2 (
name for a male or a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: ka-RA-nog
[kaˈranɔg]
4 NOTES: A male saint’s name Carannog, found as C’rannog in the village name Llangrannog.

 

(CARANNOG = beloved, < CARANT-, a stem of CÂR- = beloved) + (-OG noun suffix or adjectival suffix).

 

This name has been in use in the form Cranog, a poor spelling of Crannog [kˈranɔg], which is C’rannog < Carannog

 

Its use as a female name maybe due to Cranogwen, the pseudonym of Sarah Jane Rees of Llangrannog, a prominent figure in the second half of the 1800s (editor, poet, preacher, supporter of temperance)

 

1 Caron
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -ron
[ˈkaˑrɔn]
4 NOTES:

5 ETYMOLOGY: name of a stream flowing into the Teifi river by the town of Tregaron in Ceredigion.

 

The name Caron is a female name in the USA, and is probably independent of the Welsh name - possibly it is a respelling of Karen.


1
Carwyn (Carwÿn)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: KAR-win
[ˈkarwɪn]
4 NOTES:

5 ETYMOLOGY: ‘beloved and fair’? Apparently (CÂR-, root of CARU = to love) + (-WŸN, suffix for forming male names, = white, handsome, pure, blessed), although rules for compounding of elements in Welsh would require the a > e through the influence of the following y [i] to give “Cerwÿn” - though this would then be the same word as ‘tub, vat’.

 

1 Carys (Carÿs)
2 (name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -ris
[ˈkaˑrɪs]
4 NOTES:

5 ETYMOLOGY:


1
Casi
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: KA-si
[ˈkasɪ]
4 NOTES:

1
Cathrin
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: KATH-rin
[ˈkaθrɪn]
4 NOTES: Catherine


1
Catrin
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: KA-trin
[ˈkatrɪn]
4 NOTES: Catherine
 
1
Cefin
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: KE-vin
[ˈkeˑvɪn]
4 NOTES: (late twentieth century). Welsh form of the English name Kevin, in turn taken from a name used among the anglicised Irish - an Englished form of the native name Caoimhín = ‘gentle’ + diminutive suffix

1
Ceindeg
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: KEIN-deg
[ˈkeindɛg]
4 NOTES: CEIN = (penult form of Cain = fair, beautiful, fine) + soft mutation + (teg = fair, beautiful)

1
Ceinwedd
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: KEIN-wedh
[ˈkeinwɛð]
4 NOTES: ‘fair complexion, fair aspect’ - (cain = fair) + soft mutation + (gwedd = complexion)

1
Ceinwen
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: KEIN-wen
[ˈkeinwɛn]
4 NOTES: feminine form of the adjective CEINWŸN (= splendid and fair, etc). See the ecplanation under Ceinwyn
 

1 Ceinwyn (Ceinwÿn)
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: KEIN-win
[ˈkeinwɪn]
4 NOTES: Rare. It seems to have been given as a female name outside
Wales - probably through being wrongly listed as a female name in lists of Welsh names in “naming your child” books.

5 ETYMOLOGY: ‘splendid and fair’, ‘handsome and fair’. (CEIN- penult form of CAIN = fair, beautiful, fine) + soft mutation + (GWŸN = fair, handsome, pure, white, blessed).

 

The Geiriadur Prifysol Cymru / University of Wales Dictionary knows af no examples of the masculine adjective in Welsh literature, and lists it as a supposed form, from which the feminine adjective ceinwen is derived.

 

The name Ceinwen however is an alternative name for the Welsh female saint Cain, one of the 24 daughters of Brychan Brycheiniog ‘holy Cain’ (CEIN- penult form of CAIN) + (-WEN = holy, blessed). -WEN in this instance is more or less equivalent to English ‘SAINT’, but refering to persons revered by the Celtic Church - Ceinwen ‘Saint Cain’; two other examples are Meirwen ‘Saint Mary’, Dwynwen ‘Saint Dwÿn’

 


1
Ceirwyn (Ceirwÿn)
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: KEIR-win
[ˈkeirwɪn]
4 NOTES: rare

5 ETYMOLOGY: ?a variant of Caerwyn (which has the same pronunciation)


1
Celfyn (Celfÿn)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: KEL-vin
[ˈkɛlvɪn]
4 NOTES: Rare. Contemporary. Apparently From English “Kelvin”

1
Ceri1
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -ri
[ˈkeˑrɪ]
4 NOTES: man’s name

1
Ceri2
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -ri
[ˈkeˑrɪ]
4 NOTES: woman’s name
 
1
Ceridwen
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: ke-RID-wen
[kɛˈrɪdwɛn]
4 NOTES:

1
Citi
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: KI-ti
[ˈkɪtɪ]
4 NOTES: Pet form of Catrin [KA-trin], but taken from English Kitty

1 Conwy (Conwÿ)
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -nui
[ˈkoˑnui]
4 NOTES: An example of its use by an anglicised gentry family is Conwy Grenville Hercules Rowley,

born at Bodrhyddan in January 1841 to Richard Thomas Rowley and Charlotte Shipley-Conwy.

 

Richard Rowley was a descendant of the Conway family of Prestatyn and Bodrhyddan - the surname was lost when Penelope, daughter of the last male heir, Sir John Conway, who died in 1721, married James Russell Stapleton (d. 1743).

 

In November 1869, Conwy Grenville Hercules Rowley assumed the additional surname of Conwy, and became Conwy Grenville Hercules Rowley-Conwy, and in 1895 he obtained royal licence and authority for himself and any issue to use the surname Conwy.

 

1 Coronwen
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: ko-RON-wen
[koˈrɔnwɛn]
4 NOTES Probably no longer in use in
Wales. The author of a website (2006-10-14) states: “My name is Coronwen and I am 16 years old and I live in California...”, to which one response has been “Hey Coronwen. Cool name!”

5 ETYMOLOGY: ‘white / fair crown’ (CORON = crown) + (feminine suffix -WEN).

In the Parish of Llanfihangel Genau’r Glyn in the county of Ceredigion there is a Mynydd Coronwen (mynydd = upland, high pastureland, mountain).

1 Cranog1
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: KRA-nog
[kraˈnog]

See Carannog

 

1 Cranog2
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: KRA-nog
[kraˈnog]

4 Should really be spelt Crannog. See Carannog


1
Cranogwen
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: kra-NOG-wen
[kraˈnogwɛn]
4 NOTES: Based on the male saint’s name Carannog, found as C’rannog in the village name Llangrannog.

 

(CARANNOG = beloved, < CARANT-, a stem of CÂR- = beloved) + (-OG noun suffix or adjectival suffix).

 

To this has been added the suffix -WEN (literally ‘white, bright, pure, holy’) used in forming female names. The ‘nn’ becomes a single ‘n’ when it is in a prepenult syllable.

 

Cranogwen was the pseudonym of Sarah Jane Rees (1839-1916), the daughter of a ship's captain. The name alludes to the village of her birth - she was born in Llangrannog, in the county of Ceredigion. She was a teacher and of navigation and mathematics in schools in Ceredigion, Liverpool and London. In 1879 she became editor editor of 'Y Frythones' (The Female Briton, or Welshwoman), a women’s magazine in Welsh. She was well-known too for her work for the temperance movement, and helped to found 'Undeb Dirwestol Merched De Cymru' (The South Wales Women’s Temperance Union’)

1
Curig
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -rig
[ˈkiˑrɪg]
4 NOTES: Saint’s name, from Llangurig in
Central Wales, or Eglwys-fair-a-churig in Sir Gaerfyrddin. It is apparently formed from elements equivalent to modent Welsh cur- (stem of the verb ‘curo’ = to hit, to beat’) and the diminutive suffix -ig.

1
Cybi (Cγbi)
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -bi
[ˈkəˑbɪ]
4 NOTES: Name of a Celtic saint. There are a number of place names with Cybi - Llangybi, in Sir Fynwy (“Monmouthshire”), and Caergybi (“Holyhead”) in Ynys Môn.

1
-cyn (-cÿn)
2
3 PRONUNCIATION: KIN
[kɪn]
4 NOTES: used in diminutives. The suffix is from English (which took it from Flemish). Some names in -cyn are adaptations of English names in -kin: Hopcyn, Siencyn, Watcyn.


Welsh diminutive forms are usually in the pattern
‘(monosyllabic element) + (i)’. This monosyllable is usually the first syllable of a name. Examples are
Huw > Huwcyn. (= Hugh, Hughie)
Siôn > Sioncyn (= John, Johnny)
Dafydd > Dei > Deicyn (= David, Davie)

1
Cynan  (Cγnan)
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -nan
[ˈkəˑnan]
4 NOTES: ‘little warrior’, literally ‘little dog’

1
Cynog (Cγnog)
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -nog
[ˈkəˑnɔg]
4 NOTES:

1 Cynon (Cγnon)
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -non
[ˈkəˑnɔn]
4 NOTES: In current use.

Name of a river in the county of Rhondda-Cynon-Taf in south-east Wales, rising in Bannau Brycheiniog (“the Brecon Beacons”) in Powys, and flowing through Penderyn, Hirwaun, Aber-dâr, Aberpennar, and Abercynon, where it joins the river Taf.

 

1 *Daffyd (Daffÿd) [ˈdafɪd]
Daffyd is a nonexistent name - through the inabilty of the English to read / understand / pronounce / reproduce the name Dafydd.

 

It comes from English people reading Dafydd [ˈdaˑvɪð] as if it were an English name - f representing the sound [f] as in knife, safe, full, etc, and dd representing the sound [d] as in Ludd, adder, saddle.

 

The English thus say the name as [ˈdafɪd] and then spell it according to English spelling conventions, though with a ‘y’ where English would probably use an ‘i’.

 

Although to us it seems laughable, to English eyes *Daffyd probably seems correct, in spite of the confusing the graphemes. The graphemes “FF” / “Y” / “D” abound in Welsh, so that would seem to be justification in itself; and the spelling probably confirms itself to them even more since it resembles the spelling of the word “daffodil”, a well-known symbol of Wales.


1
Dafi
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -vi
[ˈdaˑvɪ]
4 NOTES: pet form of Dafydd [DA-vidh] = David

1
Dafydd (Dafÿdd)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -vidh
[ˈdaˑvɪð]
4 NOTES: From Latin Davidus. This was borrowed during the British era as Dewydd, and became modern Dewi. A later reborrowing into Welsh from Latin Davidus gave Dafydd. The original form was probably too closely identifies with Dewi Sant ‘David the missionary’, the patron of
Wales, and maybe too revered to give as a forename.
Pet forms are
Dei, Deio, Deian, Dai, Deicyn, Dafi [DEI, DEI-o, DEI-an, DAI, DEI-kin, DA-vi]

1 Dai
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: DAI
[dai]
4 NOTES: In South Wales, a pet form of Dafydd [DA-vidh] (= David). The equivalent in
North Wales is Dei, Deio.

 

Not used as a baptismal name.

 

In vogue for males called Dafydd, or the English name David, in Wales, though in the past it was considered to be somewhat undignified.

 

(A few years ago I had the following reply when I phoned the parents of a friend called David, known to all his contemporaries as Dai.

The mother (non-Welsh-speaking) answered - ‘Dai? There’s no-one with that name who lives here. You probably want to speak to David’.)


1
Daniel
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: DAN-yel
[ˈdanyɛl]
4 NOTES: Daniel. This is the form of the name in the Welsh Bible - Daniel was the youth who lived in the household of Nebuchadnezzar and received divine protection when thrown into the lions’ den. The name also came into Welsh as “Deiniol” via British from Latin. The final “i” has caused the diphthongisation (“ei”) of the original “a”.

1
Degwel
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: DEG-wel
[ˈdɛgwɛl]
4 NOTES:

1
Dei
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: DEI
[dei]
4 NOTES: A pet form of Dafydd [DA-vidh] = David in North Wales
 
1
Deian
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: DEI-an
[ˈdeian]
4 NOTES: This is not the English name DIANE! It is a diminutive form of DEI (= David)

(DEI, a short form for DAFŸDD) + (-AN diminutive prefix).

1
Deicyn (Deicÿn)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: DEI-kin
[ˈdeikɪn]
4 NOTES: diminutive form of Dei = David (Dei + cyn). Obsolete. Not used as a baptismal name.

 

1 Deiniol
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: DEIN-yol
[ˈdeinjɔl]
4 NOTES: Daniel - a borrowing from Latin > British > Welsh.

See “Daniel” in this list.

1 Delfrig
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: DEL-vrig
[ˈdɛlvrɪg]

4 NOTES:


1
Derec
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -rek
[ˈdeˑrɛk]
4 NOTES: A recent name in Welsh, and not common, from English Derek
[ˈdɛrɪk].

1 Derfel
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: DER-vel
[ˈdɛrvɛl]


4 NOTES: From Llandderfel, near Y Bala. The saint’s name is Derfael; the place name incorporates the colloquial reduction of ae [ai] to e [e] in a final syllable.

 

DERFEL < DERFAEL < DERWFAEL < (DERW = true) + soft mutation + (MAEL = princec, leader)

 

1 Derwen
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: DER-wen
[ˈdɛrwɛn]

4 NOTES:

 

DERWEN is ‘oak tree’, and also the name of a village in the county of Dinbych.

 

The name though could also be the female equivalent of DERWYN, and in this case it would be (DERW- obsolete element = true, found in CEFNDER(W) = male cousin, CYFNITHER(W) = female cousin, DERWFAEL saint’s name = true * prince, leader) + (-WEN, suffix for forming female names < GWEN, feminine form of GWYN = white, pure, blessed, holy)

 

1 Derwyn (Derwÿn)
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: DER-win
[ˈdɛrwɪn]

4 NOTES:

 

Possibly (DERW- obsolete element = true, found in CEFNDER(W) = male cousin, CYFNITHER(W) = female cousin, DERWFAEL saint’s name = true * prince, leader) + (-WYN, suffix for forming male names < GWYN = white, pure, blessed, holy)


1
Dewi
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: DEU-i
[ˈdeuɪ]
4 NOTES: Latin Davidus > British *Davidos > early Welsh *Dewydd > Dewy > Dewi. This name applied only to Dewi Sant ‘David the missionary’, the patron of
Wales, until recent times. Boys named after the saint were given the name ‘Dafydd’, in origin a reborrowing from Latin ‘Davidus’. This reborrowing took place in the Old Welsh period (for this reason, the final ‘i’ did not cause a change in the preceding vowel - in borrowings in the British period this ‘vowel affection’ is characteristic). In the 1900s Dewi became a favourite forename

1
Dilwen
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: DIL-wen
[ˈdɪlwɛn]
4 NOTES: In current use

5 ETYMOLOGY: Probably (DIL-, first syllable of the forename DILYS) + (-WEN suffix for forming female names)

1
Dilys (Dilÿs)
2 (name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -lis
[ˈdiˑlis]
4 NOTES: ‘true’; in modern Welsh, it is in general use as ‘authentic, genuine; valid’

1
‘Dwalad
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: DWA-lad
[ˈdwaˑlad]
4 NOTES: short form of Cadwaladr
(i) the ‘r’ after ‘d’ or ‘t’ is often lost in Welsh
ffenestr > ffenest (= window);
rhaeadr > rhaead = (waterfall);
(ii) the loss of the first syllable in three-syllable words is also common -
Nadolig > ‘Dolig (= Christmas),
ceffyle > ‘ffyle (= horses)
 
1
Dwynwen (Dwÿnwen)
2 (name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: DUIN-wen
[ˈduinwɛn]
4 NOTES: Name of a saint with a dedication at Llanddwyn, county of Môn

1
Dyfnallt (Dγfnallt)
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: DØV-nalht
[ˈdəvnaɬt]

4 NOTES: Equivalent to Scottish Dòmhnall (Englished as Donald), found too in the Scottish surname MacDhòmhnaill (MacDonald).

1 Dyfrig  (Dγfrig)
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: DØ-vrig
[ˈdəvrɪg]
4 NOTES:

 

1 Dyfyr (Dγfÿr)
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -vir
[ˈdəvɪr]
4 NOTES:

 

1 Dylan (Dγlan)
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -lan
[ˈdəlan]
4 NOTES: from dy-lanw (dy = intensifying prefix) + soft mutation + (llanw = ‘tide’, or in older Welsh ‘sea’).

 

The w was consonantal, and has dropped away.

 

Other words in Welsh show the same process - e.g. gwarchod (= look after) < gwarchadw.

Dylan was the name of a sea god alluded to in the medieval Mabinogi tales.


Dylan Thomas’s parents were Welsh-speakers but also snobs, a combination which usually means bringing up children as monoglot English and instilling contempt for the language and culture of their country, their forebears who had fought and suffered to pass these on, and their contemporaries who continue the struggle to prevent the obliteration of the Welsh language and a Welsh identity grounded in this.

Dylan Thomas’s contempt for Welsh-speaking Welsh people is well documented. His alcoholism may have been caused by the contradictions which such deculturisation causes. What is curious is that his father - a teacher of English in a grammar school - should have chosen the name Dylan, as it had never before been used as a forename in
Wales.

 

It is now used as a forename among Welsh-speakers having become well-known thanks to Dylan Thomas’s (or even Bob Dylan’s) fame in England!

Dylan Thomas is admired by non-Welsh speakers, who are cut off from their real heritage and real poets and writers, because of his fame in
England.

Note that the Welsh pronunciation is not as in English “Dillon” [DI-løn]. In
England it has been a popular name in the seventies, thanks to Mr. Robert Zimmerman from Minnesota, but with the pronunciation [DI-løn]. Bob Dylan seems to have been an admirer of the TV western series Gunsmoke, some of the episodes of which were also called Marshall Dillon. It first appeared on screens in 1955 and ran for twenty years.

At at the start of his career Robert Zimmerman had gone to
New York and had adopted the name ‘Bob Dillon’. Among the Greenwich Village intellectuals of the 60’s the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas was in vogue, where the name was pronounced as in England as [DI-løn], and so the same as Dillon. As an artist it was more impressive to adopt the name with the spelling Dylan (though there was no evidence that Zimmerman was familiar at all with Dylan Thomas’s (scanty) writings).

 

(I don’t know how reliable this information about Bob Dylan is - it turned up on a website, which has subsequently disappeared)

The son of Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones is Dylan (as she is non-Welsh-speaking, she probably pronounces it as in ‘Bob Dylan’). The reason for the name is probably that like her (and myself) Dylan Thomas was from the same city, Abertawe.

1
Eben
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: Ê-ben
[ˈeˑbɛn]
4 NOTES: Short form of Ebeneser. Not used as a baptismal name.
Y Diwygiwr (magazine title, = the reformer)1884 Cyfrol (volume) 49, tudalen (page) 92. “Eu henwau yn llawn mewn print neu dystysgrif fuasai Ebenezer ac Ann Salathiel; ond ar lafar, gelwid hwynt Eben a Nanney Salathia” - their names (written) fully in print or on a certificate would have been Ebenezer and Ann Salathiel; but in common parlance, they were called Eben and Nanney Salathia

1 Edna
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: ED-na
[ˈɛdna]
4 NOTES:

5 ETYMOLOGY: From English Edna
 
1
Edward
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: ED-ward
[ˈɛdward]
4 NOTES: Diminutive forms in Welsh are Ned [NED], Nedw [NE-du] From the English name. It was taken to be an equivalent of the native name Iorwerth [YOR-werth] (there is no connection in fact apart from a vague similarity in form). From the patronymic ab Edward (son of Edward) came the fused form Bedward, and the fused patronymic was used as a fixed surname, spelt the same in English “Bedward”. The patronymic ab Edward eventually became simply Edward (anyone who was ‘John the son of Edward’, who in an earlier period (pre-1650 approximately) would have been Siôn ab Edward, would have been Siôn Edward after this. This also became the basis of a fixed surname - Edward (spelt the same in English), or more usually with the addition of the English genitive ‘s - Edwards (= Edward’s son).

1
Efa
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: Ê-va
[ˈeˑva]
4 NOTES: Equivalent to ‘Eve’ in English.

1 Egryn (Egrÿn)
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: E-grin
[ˈɛgrɪn]

4 NOTES: Name of a Celtic saint. Individuals with this name probably have a connection with Llanegryn, a village and parish in the district of Meirionydd in the county of Gwynedd, north-west Wales.

 

1 Egwad
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: E-gwad
[ˈɛgwad]
4 NOTES: Name of a Celtic saint. Individuals with this name probably have a connection with Llanegwad, a village in the
county of Caerfyrddin, south-west Wales.

 

1 Eiddig
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: EI-dhig
[ˈeiðɪg]
4 NOTES:

Name of a stream in Ceredigion whose source is Corsfigan on Mynydd Pencarreg by the main road llanbedr Pont Steffan to Llaymddyfri. It follows a zig-zag course for some three miles through a narrow valley, flows through Parc-y-rhos and joins the river Teifi by Felin-fach farm. By its banks are dwellings with the names Glaneiddig (“bank of the Eiddig stream’), Bryneiddig (“hill of the Eiddig stream”), Coedeiddig (“wood by the Eiddig stream”), and Tancoedeiddig (“place below wood by the Eiddig stream”)


1
Eiddwen
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: EIDH-wen
[ˈeiðwɛn]
4 NOTES: Possiblement (EIDD- first syllable of the stream name EIDDIG) + (-WEN suffix for forming feminine names)

1 Eiddon
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: EI-dhon
[ˈeiðɔn]

4 Notes: As in the name of the Egyptologist Dr. Iorwerth Eiddon Stephen Edwards (1900-1996), born in London to Welsh parents. Name of a stream (Nant Eiddon) in the county of Gwynedd (north-west Wales).



1 Eifion
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: EIV-yon
[ˈeivjɔn]
4 NOTES: from the district name of Eifionydd in North-west Wales. The origin of this name is (EIFION - a personal name) + (-YDD - a suffix indicating a territory). The name Eifion was fossilised in the place name until revived in the eighteen hundreds

1
Eifiona
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: eiv--na
[eivˈjoˑna]
4 NOTES: (EIFION) + (A). Female names are sometimes made from a male name by adding ‘a’. See this suffix -a in this list.

 

 

1 Eilonwy (Eilonwÿ)
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: ei--nui
[eiˈloˑnui]
4 NOTES: An invented twentieth-century name.

It could be based on literary Welsh EILON (= deer, stag) or more likely on the dictionary word EILON (= music, melody, harmony). This second word is in fact the same as the first - but the lexicographer William Owen-Pughe, in compiling his Welsh-English dictionary (1795 onwards) had misunderstood the word and had given it the meaning of music. To this has been added the suffix -WY, with no real meaning, to give the name more substance.

1
Einion
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: EIN-yon
[ˈeinjɔn]
4 NOTES: In South Wales, the [y] at the beginning of a final syllable is dropped in many words, which gives the form Einon [EI-non]. From the patronymic ab Einon (son of Einon) came the fused form Beinon, and the fused patronymic was used as a fixed surname, spelt in English “Beynon”.

1
Einir
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: EI-nir
[ˈeinɪr]
4 NOTES:

1
Eira
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: EI-ra
[ˈeira]
4 NOTES: snow. Cf Eiry

1
Eirian
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: EIR-yan
[ˈeirjan]
4 NOTES: from an obolete word meaning ‘beautiful, fair, brilliant’

1 Eirion1
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: EIR-yon
[ˈeirjɔn]
4 NOTES: In use.

A newspaper report (Western Mail? 05 12 1982 has “His daughter, Eirion, 19, is also an enthusiast...”

A Google site reference includes the phrase “Rydym yn dymuno'n dda i Eirion a'i phwyllgor...” = We wish Eirion and her committee well...

5 ETYMOLOGY:

 

1 Eirion1
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: EIR-yon
[ˈeirjɔn]
4 NOTES: In use.

Google shows a site reference including the name “Mr. Eirion Richards...”

5 ETYMOLOGY:

 


1
Eirlys (Eirlÿs)
2 (name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: EIR-lis
[ˈeirlɪs]
4 NOTES: snowdrop (EIR- = stem of EIRA, or its older form EIRY) + soft mutation + (LLYS = plant)

1
Eirwen
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: EIR-wen
[ˈeirwɛn]
4 NOTES: EIR- = stem of EIRA - this was EIRY in medival Welsh = snow) + (WEN = white)

1
Eiry (Eirÿ)
2 (name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: EI-ri
[ˈeirɪ]
4 NOTES: older form of EIRA = snow

1
Êl
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: EEL (that is, a long ‘e’; the same as the pronunciation of ‘ale’ in Northern England)
4 NOTES: Short form of Elis [E-lis]

1 Elain
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: Ê-lain
[ˈeˑlain]
4 NOTES: This is not the English name Elaine. Elain is a word in literary Welsh (i.e. it is no longer in general use) meaning ‘young deer’ or ‘female deer’. From British from Celtic *elanî (= female deer) from a root *el- (= red).


1
Eleias
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: e-LEI-as
[ɛˈleias]
4 NOTES: Eleias is the name found in the Welsh Bible for Elias, which is the Greek form of the name Elijah. In the Old Testament, Elias is a Hebrew prophet of the ninth century BC, persecuted for denouncing Ahab and Jezebel. (1 Brenhinoedd 18.42 Ac Eleias a aeth i fyny i ben Carmel / 1 Kings 18.42 And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel)
 
1
Elen
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: Ê-len
[ˈeˑlɛn]
4 NOTES: A popular name in some parts of Wales, ultimately from a character in the medieval “Mabinogi” tales. This was ‘Elen Luyddog’ [E-len li-Ø-dhog] (Helen of the Hosts). The story told about her has its origins in Roman Britain, and occurs in the account of Macsen Wledig, Magnus Maximus, Roman governor of the Roman
province of Brittania. Elen was popularly supposed to have organised the building of roads in Wales. The name Elen also occurs as ‘Helen’. In different parts of Wales there are sections of Roman roads called Sarn Helen, but the element ‘Helen’ is unlikely to be the woman’s name Helen / Elen in origin, but the reinterpretation of another element (‘elin’ = elbow, sharp turn in a road, has been suggested). The Latin name was ‘Helena’, from Greek ‘Helenê’, the feminine form of ‘helenos’ = bright. In Greek mythology it was the name of the beautiful Greek queen who was seduced by Paris, an act which caused the Trojan War.


1
Eleri
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: e--ri
[ɛˈleˑrɪ]
4 NOTES: A river in Ceredigion, which passes through the
village of Tal-y-bont.

1 Elfÿn
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: EL-vin
[ˈɛlvɪn]
4 NOTES:

 

1 Elin
2 (name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: Ê-lin
[eˑlɪn]
4 NOTES: The diminutive forms are Nel, Neli [
NEL, NE li]

1 Elina
2 (name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: e--na
[ɛliˑna]
4 NOTES:

 

1 Elis
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: Ê-lis
[eˑlɪs]
4 NOTES: A diminutive form is made by using only the first syllable - Êl [EEL] (the vowel is a long e; somewhat like English ‘ale’, ‘ail’, but it is a long vowel, not a diphthong).

1
Eluned
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: e--ned
[ɛliˑnɛd]
4 NOTES: Sometmes found shortened as Luned

1 Elwydd (Elwÿdd)
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: E-luidh
[ˈɛluið]
4 NOTES: Rare. In current use.

5 MEANING: Possibly from a place name. There is a Bryn Elwydd in Machynlleth.

 

In older Welsh, elwydd / eilwydd meant ‘meeting, trist’, though this does not seem a likely word or a forename.

 

Caerfallwch, in his 1850 English-Welsh dictionary, translates ‘beatic presence’ as ‘elwydd’, probably an invented word made up of an element (EL) + soft mutation + (GŴYDD = presence)

 

1 Elwyn (Elwÿn)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: EL-win
[ˈɛlwɪn]
4 NOTES:

 


1
Emlyn (Emlÿn)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: EM-lin
[ˈɛmlɪn]
4 NOTES: From a district name.

1
Emrys (Emrÿs)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: EM-ris
[ˈɛmrɪs]
4 NOTES:

1
Emwnt
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: E-munt
[ˈeˑmʊnt]
4 NOTES: A Cymricised form of the English name Edmund (from Old English ead = prosperity, mund = protection). The patronymics ‘ab Emwnt / Bemwnt’, ‘Emwnt’ (both meaning ‘son of Edmund’) became the English-language surnames Bedmond, Edmunds, found in south-east
Wales

1
Emyr (Emÿr)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: E-mir
[ˈɛmɪr]
4 NOTES:

1 Endaf
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: EN-dav
[ˈɛndav]

4 NOTES:


1
Enfys (Enfÿs)
2 (name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: EN-vis (that is, like English ‘envy’ + s)
[ˈɛnvɪs]
4 NOTES: The meaning is ‘rainbow’. In use at present as a girl’s name.

1
Enid
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: E-nid
[ˈeˑnɪd]
4 NOTES:

1
Eos
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: Ê-os
[ˈeˑɔ]
4 NOTES: nightingale

1 Erwyd (Erwÿd)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: Ê-ruid
[ˈeˑruid]
4 NOTES:



1
Eryl (Erÿl)
2 (name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: Ê-ril
[ˈeˑrɪl]
4 NOTES:

1
Esyllt (Esÿllt)
2 (name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: E-silht
[ˈɛsɪɬt]
4 NOTES:

1
Ethni
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: ETH-ni
[ˈɛθnɪ]
4 NOTES:

1
Eurem
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: EI-rem
[ˈeirɛm]
4 NOTES: (EUR-, the penult form of AUR = gold) + soft mutation + (gem = jewel, gem, precious stone)

1
Eurfon
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: EIR-von
[ˈeirvɔn]
4 NOTES: Seems to be (EUR - the penult form of AUR = gold) + soft mutation + (MÔN = island of Anglesey)
 
1
Eurfron
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: EIR-vron
[ˈeirvrɔn]
4 NOTES:

5 ETYMOLOGY: (EUR - the penult form of AUR = gold) + soft mutation + (BRON = breast)

1 Eurfryn I(Eurfrÿn)
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: EIR-vron
[ˈeirvrɪn]
4 NOTES: In use

5 ETYMOLOGY: ‘golden hill’ (EUR - the penult form of AUR = gold) + soft mutation + (BRYN = hill)

 

Possibly from the place name Bryn-aur (“hill (of) gold”), with the elements reversed. The 1881 Census notes a dwelling called Bryn-aur (“Brynaur”) in Nefyn, in present-day Gwynedd. As a house name, there are also examples (found via Google) on Heol Aberhonddu, Pen-y-cae, Abertawe; a farm in Pentrecelyn in the county of Dinbych; a street name in Caerwys, county of Y Fflint, a street in Gorsedd, Treffynnon, county of Y Fflint; a street name in Coed-y-cwm, Pont-y-pridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf; etc

 

The name is found in 1889 - the author of an article “Enwau adar yn Llanrwst” (bird names in Llanrwst) in the magazine “Cymru Fydd” (Future Wales) is W. Eurfyn Davies

 

1 Eurfyl I(Eurfÿl)
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: EIR-vil
[ˈeirvɪl]
4 NOTES: In use

5 ETYMOLOGY:

 

1 Eurion
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: EIR-yon
[ˈeirjɔn]
4 NOTES: In use

5 ETYMOLOGY:

 
1
Eurwen
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: EIR-wen
[ˈeirwɛn]
4 NOTES: In use

5 ETYMOLOGY: (EUR - the penult form of AUR = gold) + (-WEN suffix for forming female names)

 

1 Eurwyn (Eurwÿn)
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: EIR-win
[ˈeirwɪn]
4 NOTES: In use

5 ETYMOLOGY: (EUR - the penult form of AUR = gold) + (-WYN suffix for forming male names)

1 Euryn (Eurÿn)
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: EI-rin
[ˈeirɪn]
4 NOTES: In use

5 ETYMOLOGY: (EUR - the penult form of AUR = gold) + (-YN dimuntive suffix)

 
1
Falmai
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: VAL-mai
[ˈvalmai]
4 NOTES:

1
Fanw
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -nu
4 NOTES: This is a pet form of Myfanwy [mø-VA-nui]. The first syllable MY- has been dropped.
The final -w is possibly the diminutive suffix -W as in Begw, Nanw.


Alternatively it is the colloquial reduction of final wy, found especially in the South. Examples are:
ofnadwy / ofnadw = terrible,
Ebwy / Ebw = river name,
Goronowy / Gronw = man’s name..

1
Ffilip
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -lip
4 NOTES:

1
Fflur
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: FLÎR
[ˈfliːr]
4 NOTES: from Latin flora = flower; there is a ruined monastery in Wales called Ystrad Fflur (Strata Florida) - (the) valley (of) (the) flower

1
Ffransis
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: FRAN-sis
[ˈfransɪs]
4 NOTES: From English Francis, equivalent to French ‘Franois’, Italian ‘Francesco’, Catalan ‘Francesc’, Castilian ‘Francisco’. Ultimately from Germanic ‘frank’, meaning ‘free’, and the name of the Germanic tribe, the Franks (literally ‘freemen’). The rise of the Frankish dynasty madethe use of ‘frank’ a popular element in name composition.

1
Ffrèd
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: FRED
[ˈfrɛd]
4 NOTES: From English Fred <
Frederick. If Welsh spelling rules were to be strictly applied, it would have a grave accent over the ‘e’ to show that the vowel is short, since in monosyllables a ‘e’ before a ‘d’ is usually long - lled [lheed] = width, rhed! [hreed] = run.

1
Gareth
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -reth
4 NOTES: Very popular at present, though precisley what its origin is is difficult to fathom. The commonly quoted ‘Gareth is from Welsh Garwedd = roughness’ is to be taken with a pinch of salt.

1
Garmon
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GAR-mon
[ˈgarmɔn]
4 NOTES: See our dictionary entry

1
Geinwr
2 (name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GEI-nur
[ˈgeinʊr]
4 NOTES: A reduced form of Gwenhwyfar [gwen-HUI-var]
 
1
Geraint
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -raint
[ˈgeˑraint]
4 NOTES: Latin geront-ius = old man (??with the sense of respected elder, wise elder) ; from Greek gêras = old age; related the English word of Latin origin ‘geriatric’

1
Gerallt
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -ralht
[ˈgeˑraɬt]
4 = Gerald

 

1 Gerwyn (Gerwÿn)
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GER-win
[ˈgɛrwɪn]
4
 
1
Geta
2 (name for a female). Clipped form of Margareta.
Not a name in its own right.

3 PRONUNCIATION: GE-ta
4 NOTES:

1
Glenys (Glenÿs)
2 (name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GLÊ-nis
[ˈgleˑnɪs]
4 NOTES:

 

 

1 Glain
2 (name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GLAIN
[glain]
4 NOTES:



1 Glan
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GLAN
[glan]
4 NOTES:

 

1 Glyn (Glÿn)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GLIN
[glɪn]
4 NOTES: A clipped form of
Glyndwr

1
Glyndwr (Glÿndwr)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GLØN-dur, GLIN-dur
4 NOTES: From Owain Glyn Dwr, the Welsh leader who sought to reunite
Wales and end English domination.

 

The short form is Glyn (Glÿn) GLIN which has become a name in its own right.

 

See the website
OWAIN GLŸN DWR: Cymdeithas Owain Glyn Dwr (Owain Glyn Dwr Association)
http://www.owain-glyndwr-soc.org.uk

1
Glynis (Glγnis)
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GLØ-nis
4 NOTES:

1
Gruffudd
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GRÎ-fidh
[ˈgriˑfɪð],
4 NOTES: Ahort forms are
Guto, Gutyn (Gutÿn)

1
Guto
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GI-to
[ˈgɪtɔ]
4 NOTES: A diminutive form of
Gruffudd [GRI-fidh]

1
Gutyn (Gutÿn)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GI-tin
[ˈgɪtɪn]
4 NOTES: A diminutive form of
Gruffudd [GRI-fidh]

1
Gwalchmai
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GWALCH-mai
[ˈgwaɬxmaɪ]
4 NOTES: meaning: ‘hawk of the plain’.

 

GWALCH is hawk, MAI (now obsolete, older Welsh MEI) meaning ‘plain’.

1
Gwallter
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GWALH-ter
[ˈgwaɬtɛr]
4 NOTES: Walter

1
Gwanwyn (Gwanwÿn)
2 (name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GWAN-win
[ˈgwanwɪn]
4 NOTES: In current use. Rare.

5: ETYMOLOGY: The meaning is ‘spring, springtime’.

1
Gwawr
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GWAUR
[gwaur],
4 NOTES: In current use.

5 ETYMOLOGY: GWAWR = dawn, daybreak

1
gwedd
2 aspect, appearance, complexion; face

3 PRONUNCIATION:
[ˈgweːð]
4 NOTES: It is used as a second element in some girls’ names: Ceinwedd
[ˈkeinwɛð], Tegwedd [ˈtɛgwɛð]

Such names were formed probably in imitation of the name Blodeuwedd, a character in the fourth and last part the medieval Mabinogi stories. She is the beautiful wife of Lleu Llawgyffes who deceives her husband. She and her lover Gronw Pebr, lord of Penllyn, conspire to kill Lleu. She is captured by the magician Gwydion and transformed into an owl, and ordered never to appear in daylight again.

The origin of the name is not clear - it could be either
(1) ‘flower face’, (BLODAU = flowers), (GWEDD = aspect, face)


(2) or BLODEU-W-EDD, a form of BLODEUEDD, a double plural of BLODAU.


 (BLODEU, form of BLODAU = flowers) + (an intrusive ‘w’) + (the plural suffix “-edd”)


The GWEDD derivation is the one considered to be more likely and is the one popularly accepted.

1
Gwen
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GWEN
[gwɛn]
4 NOTES: short form of Gwenhwyfar, ‘white’

1
Gwenda
2 (
name for a female) [ˈgwɛnda]
3 PRONUNCIATION: GWEN-da
4 NOTES:

5 ETYMOLOGY: Seems to be GWEN + DA (= good), though this should give *GWENDDA, with soft mutation, as in the obsolete word GWENDDŸN (= blessed / fair / beloved person) (GWEN + DŸN).

 

Possibly *GWENDDA, with the mutation removerd for euphony.

 

Or possibly a feminised form of the saint’s name Gwÿndaf. The name occurs in name Llanwnda, historically Llanwyndaf; there are two villages with this name, one in the north-west near Caernarfon, and one in the south-west by Gwdig. The sound changes whcih have taken place to give ‘-WNDA’ typical of colloquial Welsh - loss of the final -f [v], monophtongisation of -wÿ- in a penult, as in gw’bod [GUU bod] (= to know) for standard gwÿbod [GUI bod]

 

In Llanwnda by Gwdig there is apparently a “Saint Gwendaf’s Cottage” (2005 Rhestr Brisio Drafft 2005 ar gyfer Awdurdod Biliau / Valuation List for the Billing Authority of Pembrokeshire). This could indicate, if the name is correct, and of long standing, a belief that the saint to whom the church is dedicated was a female saint *Gwendaf.

 


1
Gwenddolen
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: gwen-DHO-len
[gwɛnˈðoˑlɛn]
4 NOTES: (GWEN = white, feminine form of GWŸN) + soft mutation + (DOLEN = link of a chain)

 

There is a saint Gwenddolen who lived in the 600s and who is buried in Talgarth, county of Powys.

 

The name Gwendolen, in the writings of Geoffrey of Monmouth (1100s), is distinct - it seems he reused a name from early Welsh poetry (a male name Guendoleu, in modern Welsh Gwendolau). He took the final u to be an n, and created a female character called Guendolen

1
Gwenfair
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GWEN-vair
[ˈgwɛnvair]
4 NOTES: (white / pure / blessed / holy) + (Virgin Mary).
GWEN feminine form of GWŸN (= white, fair, etc.) + soft mutation + (MAIR = Mary). An adjective placed before a non causes a soft mutation, and [m] becomes [v]. Hence (GWEN + FAIR) becomes GWEN ºFAIR > GWENFAIR

1
Gwenffrewi
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: gwen-FREU-i
[gwɛnˈfreui]
4 NOTES:

1
Gwenfron
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GWEN-vron
[ˈgwɛnvrɔn]
4 NOTES: fair breast
Gwen, feminine form of gwyn = white, fair, etc. bron = breast.. An adjective placed before a non causes a soft mutation, and [m] becomes [v]. Hence (gwen + bron) becomes gwen fron > Gwenfron

1
Gwenith
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GWÊ-nith
[ˈgweˑnɪθ]
4 NOTES: wheat

1
Gwenllian
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: gwen-LHÎ-an
[gwɛnˈɬiˑan]
4 NOTES:

1
Gwennant
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GWE-nant
[ˈgwɛnant]
4 NOTES: white stream

1
Gwenno
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GWE-no
[ˈgwɛnɔ]
4 NOTES: in medieval Welsh, the name for the planet Venus (‘little white / bright one’)

1
Gwìl
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GWIL
[ˈgwɪl]
4 NOTES: Short form of Gwilym [GWÎ-lim]
[ˈgwiˑlɪm] = William. Many short forms in Welsh are the first syllable of the name.

 

Not used as a baptismal name.

1
Gwili
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GWÎ-li
[ˈgwiˑlɪ]
4 NOTES: Name of a river in the south-west

1
Gwilym (Gwilÿm)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GWI-lim
[ˈgwiˑlɪm]
4 NOTES: William. The short form is Gwil.

1
Gwladus
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GWLA-dis
[ˈgwlaˑdɪs]
4 NOTES: “ruler over territory; leader”

(GWLAD = country) + (-US suffix). This became popular in England and the United States in the late 1800s as Gladys.

1
Gwlithyn (Gwlithÿn)
2 (name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GWLÎ-thin
[ˈgwliˑθɪn]
4 NOTES: dew-drop (gwlith = dew as a collective phenomenon; -yn is a singulative suffix)
 

1 Gwrhyd (Gwrhÿd)
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -rid
4 NOTES: Probably not in use

“newydd symud y mae (Y Parchedig Gwrhyd Roberts) o Bangor a Bwlchygwynt, Pennsylvania”. Cwrs y Byd, page 102, 1895.

The Reverend Gwrhyd Roberts of Bangor and Bwlch-y-gwynt, Pennsylvania, has recently moved

5 ETYMOLOGY Place name. ‘fathom’, literarally ‘length (of the outstretched arms of a) man’ (GW^R = man) + (HŸD = length)

 

1 Gwydion (Gwÿdion)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GUØD-yon, GUID-yon
4 NOTES:

5 ETYMOLOGY

 

1 Gwÿdol
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GUI-dol
[ˈguidɔl]
4 NOTES: Rare

5 ETYMOLOGY: Name of a stream in Powys flowing into the river Dyfi at Abergwÿdol

 

1 Gwylon (Gwÿlon)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GUI-lon
4 NOTES:

5 ETYMOLOGY:


1
Gwyn (Gwÿn)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GWIN
[ˈgwin]
4 NOTES: white; in fact, a reduced form - the first element of compounds names of British origin with gwyn- as the first element

 

1 Gwynant (Gwÿnant)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GUI-nant
[ˈguinant]
4 NOTES: (1) By Beddgelert there is a valley Nant Gwynant, where there is a
lake Llyn Gwynant, overlooking which is a mansion Plasgwynant. In Beddgelert there is a street called Ffordd Gwynant.

(2) There is an Afon Gwynant by Dolgellau, on the northern flank of Cader Idris. It flows into the Mawddach at Abergwynant.

 

1 Gwynda (Gwγnda or Gwÿnda)
2 (name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GWØN-da, GWIN-da
4 NOTES: Noted in a death notice, 1982
5 ETYMOLOGY: See Gwenda

1 Gwyndon (Gwγndon or Gwÿndon)
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GWØN-don, GWIN-don
4 NOTES: Rare

5 ETYMOLOGY Seems to be the place name Gwyndon ‘white pasture’. (GWŸN = white) + soft mutation + (TON = pasture)



1 Gwynedd (Gwγnedd or Gwÿnedd)
2 (name for a female), (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GWØ-nedd, GWÎ-nedh
4 NOTES: Modern county (1974-1996; 1996 onwards with a reduced area), and a former country in North-west Wales. Can be a male or female name

As a female name an example of its use in an anglicised gentry family in the nineteenth century is: “Gwynedd Frances Rowley, the eldest child of Richard Thomas Rowley and Charlotte Shipley-Conwy, born 16 January 1839” (at Bodrhyddan, county of Dinbych, historically in the county of Y Fflint) .

 
1
Gwÿneira (Gwγneira or Gwÿneira)
2 (name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: gwø-NEI-ra, gwi-NEI-ra
[gwəˈnəira, gwɪˈnəira]
4 NOTES: snow white

1
Gwyneth (Gwγneth  or Gwÿneth)
2 (name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GWØ-neth, GWI-neth
[ˈgwənɛθ, ˈgwɪnɛθ]
4 NOTES: Apparently a form of Gwynedd, the name of a region in North-west Wales, revived officially since 1974 as the name of a county, reconstituted (in a smaller version) in 1996.

1 Gwÿnfil (Gwγnfil or Gwÿnfil)
2 (name for a male) [ˈgwənvɪl, ˈgwɪnvɪl]
3 PRONUNCIATION: GWØN-vil, GWIN-vil
4 NOTES:

5 ETYMOLOGY: Formerly a parish in Ceredigion, and formerly a township and census enumeration district. In Llangeithio there is a Calvanistic Methodist chapel, Capel Gwynfil.



1 Gwynfor (Gwγnfor or Gwÿnfor)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GWØN-vor, GWIN-vor
[ˈgwənvɔr, ˈgwɪnvɔr]
4 NOTES:


1
Gwynfrÿn (Gwγnfrÿn or Gwÿnfrÿn)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GWØN-vrin, GWIN-vrin
[ˈgwənvrɪn, ˈgwɪnvrɪn]
4 NOTES:

5 ETYMOLOGY: a place name, ‘white hill’. (GWYN = white) + soft mutation + (BRYN = hill)
1
Gwynffrwd (Gwγnffrwd  or Gwÿnffrwd)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GWØN-frud, GWIN-frud
[ˈgwənfrʊd, ˈgwɪnfrʊd]
4 NOTES: Rare. Appeared in a death notice1982.

5 ETYMOLOGY: from Gwenffrwd a stream name, with the use of gwÿn to make the name more appropriate for a male.

(GWYN = white) + (FFRWD = stream).

 

The place name may have been Ffrwd Wen (FFRWD = stream) + soft mutation + (GWEN, feminine form of GWYN = white), in which case the elements were reversed to form the single compound word Gwenffrwd.

 

1 Gwynnyth (Gwγnnÿth  or Gwÿnnÿth)
2 (name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: GWØ-nith, GWI-nith
[ˈgwənɪθ, ˈgwɪnɪθ]
4 NOTES: Rare .

5 ETYMOLOGY: Seems to be a variant of Gwyneth; possibly it is a variant of Gwenith (= wheat). Pererin “A Treatise on the Chief Peculiarities that Distinguish the Cymraeg, as Spoken by the Inhabitants of Gwent and Morganwg Respectively” (a series of articles 1855-1857 in Archaeologia Cambrensis) 0959e notes that in east Morgannwg wheat is “gwinith”.

 

As it stands it is ‘white nest’ (GWYN = white) + (NYTH = nest) (though this is hardly the derivation of this name).



1 Gwynoro (Gwγnoro or Gwÿnoro)
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: gwø--ro, gwi--ro
[gwəˈnoˑrɔ, gwɪˈnoˑrɔ]
4 NOTES:

1
Haf
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: HAAV
[haːv]
4 NOTES: summer

1
Hafina
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: ha-VÎ-na
[haˈviˑna]
4 NOTES: In use. Rare.

 

From the literary word HAFIN (= summer weather) + (-A suffix for forming female names).

 

HAFIN < HAF-HIN (HAF = summer) + (HIN = weather).

 

The word occurs in a poem written in the 1400s by Hywel ab Owain; it is included in Owen William-Pughe’s Welsh-English Dictionary (1803).

1 Hafod
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: HÂ-vod
[ˈhaˑvɔd]
4 NOTES: Rare. The South Wales Argus (
25th Jan 2005) carries a story of a Mr. Hafod Williams winning an industrial award

5 ETYMOLOGY: From a place name. Hafod is summer pasture; upland farm by the summer pasture


1 Hafren
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: HAV-ren
[ˈhavrɛn]
4 NOTE: Rare.

5 ETYMOLOGY: Name of a river in mid-Wales which flows into England (there known as the River Severn). In Latin (from the British or proto-Welsh name) Sabrina (qv) - also used as a forename in Wales.


1
Hafwen
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: HAV-wen
[ˈhavwɛn]
4 (haf = summer) + (suffix -wen)

1 Haranwen
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: ha-RAN-wen
[haˈranwɛn]
4 NOTES: Rare. Occurs in a death notice, 1982

5 ETYMOLOGY: (HARAN) + (-WEN, suffix for forming female names).

 

Possibly based on the town name Haran which occurs frequently in the Old Testament. It became the home of Abraham's family after the migration from Ur.

 

If this is not the origin, there is another possible explanation. There is a village called Llanharan in Rhondda-Cynon-Taf county, from which Haran may have been taken as the name of a saint (thought the parish church is dedicated to St Julius & St Aaron - Haran may represent Aaron, unless Aaron has been used to explain the name Haran)

.

1 Harri
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: HA-ri
[ˈharɪ]
4 NOTES: Harry.
The patronymic ap Harri (“son (of) Harri”) was contracted as Parri, which became a fixed surname. In English, it is spelt Parry.

 

1 Hedd
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: HÊDH
[heːð]
4 NOTES: In current use.
5 ETYMOLOGY: hedd = peace

 

1 Heddwen
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: HEDH-wen
[ˈhɛddwɛn]
4 NOTES:
5 ETYMOLOGY: (HEDD = peace) + (-WEN suffix for forming female names = white, pure, holy; soft-mutated form of GWEN, which is the feminine form of GWŸN)

 

1 Heddwÿn
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: HEDH-win
[ˈhɛddwɪn]
4 NOTES: In use.
5 ETYMOLOGY: (HEDD = peace) + (-WŸN suffix for forming male names = white, pure, holy; soft-mutated form of GWŸN). Or this is the pseudonym Hedd Wyn (Ellis Humphrey Evans 1887-1917), a poet killed in the First World War, modified for use as a forename.

1
Hefin
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -vin
[ˈheˑvɪn]
4 NOTES: summer. Occurs in William Owen-Pughe’s dictionary (1803), and it appears in a manuscript by Iolo Morgannwg in 1795 in the invented expression Alban Hefin (= summer solstice). It seems to be taken from the month name MEHEFIN (= June), which literally is ‘midsummer’, corresponding to modern Welsh (*
ME- mid, half; element not found as an independent word in modern Welsh) + (HAF = summer) + (-IN suffix)

1
Hefina
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: he--na
[hɛˈviˑna]
4 NOTES: feminine form of Hefin = summer
 

1 Heledd
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -ledh
[ˈheˑlɛð]
4 NOTES:

1
Henri
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: HEN-ri
[ˈhɛnrɪ]
4 NOTES: Henry

1
Heulwen
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: HEIL-wen
4 NOTES: SUNSHINE, from HEUL, penult form of HAUL = sun, + -WEN = white, bright

1
Hirwaun
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: HIR-wain
[ˈhɪrwain]
4 NOTES: place name, town near Merthyrtudful = long moor

1
Hopcyn (Hopcÿn)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: HOP-kin
[ˈhɔpkɪn]
4 NOTES: Hopkin
The patronymic ap Hopcyn (“son (of) Hopcyn”) was contracted as Popcyn, which became a fixed surname in South Wales. In English, it is spelt Popkin.


In the 1600s the patronymic ap Hopcyn (“son (of) Hopcyn”) lost the ap, and ‘Morgan son of Hopkin’, which earlier had been Morgan ap Hopcyn, was now Morgan Hopcyn. This became a fixed surname (spelt in English Hopkin). A form with an added -s also came into use in English:
Hopkins, = Hopcyn’s (son)


1
Huana
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: hi-Â-na
[hiˈaˑna]
4 NOTES: In use. Rare.

 

“sun” - from the literary word HUAN (= sun) + (-A suffix for forming female names).



1
Huw
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: HYUU
[hjuː]
4 NOTES: Hugh.

Huwcyn [HYUU-kin] is a diminutive
The patronymic ap Huw (“son (of) Huw”) was contracted as Puw, which became a fixed surname. In English, it is spelt Pugh.


In the 1600s the patronymic ap Huw (“son (of) Huw”) lost the ap, and ‘Morgan son of Huw’, which earlier had been Morgan ap Huw, was now Morgan Huw. This became a fixed surname (spelt in English Hugh). A form with an added -s also came into use in English: Hughes, = Huw’s (son). The adoption of the form with -s, or the later addition of -s to the the surname ‘Hugh’, was so widespread that ‘Hughes’ seems to have entirely replaced the surname ‘Hugh’ in
Wales.

1
Huwcyn (Huwcÿn)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: HYUU-kin
[ˈhjuˑkɪn]
4 NOTES: “little Hugh”. A diminutive form of Huw through the addition of the suffix “-cyn”
 
1
Hwlcyn (Hwlcÿn)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: HUL-kin
4 NOTES: “little Hywel”. Pet form of Hywel [-wel], through the contraction of the name to a single syllable and the addtion of the suffix “-cyn” (cf Hywel > Hwlyn, Lewys > Lewsyn)

1
Hwlyn (Hwlÿn)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -lin
4 NOTES: “little Hywel”. Pet form of Hywel [-wel], through the contraction of the name to a single syllable and the addtion of the suffix “-yn” (cf Hywel > Hwlcyn, Lewys > Lewsyn)

1
Hywel (Hγwel)
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -wel
4 NOTES: ‘eminent’
The patronymic ap Hywel (“son (of) Hywel”) was contracted as Pywel, which became a fixed surname. In English, it is spelt Powell.


In the 1600s the patronymic ap Hywel (“son (of) Hywel”) lost the ap, and ‘Morgan son of Hywel’, which earlier had been Morgan ap Hywel, was now Morgan Hywel. This became a fixed surname (spelt in English Howell). A form with an added -s also came into use in English: Howells, = Hywel’s (son)


In Welsh, a colloquial form of Hywel was Howel (ho- as in English ‘hot’). However, the use of ‘o’ in the English form seems to be because there was no satisfactory way of writing the obscure vowel in English (which the letter y in Hywel represents), and the ‘o’ sound was felt to be a near-enough equivalent.


Diminutive forms are Hywyn, Hwlyn, Hwlcyn

1
Hywyn (Hγwÿn)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -win
[ˈhəˑwɪn]
4 NOTES: diminutive form of Hywel [-wel], with the final vowel and consonant replaced by the diminutive suffix “-yn”.


1
-i
2 (
-
3 PRONUNCIATION: I
4 NOTES: used in diminutive forms - usually in the pattern
‘(monosyllabic element) + (i)’. This monosyllable is usually the first syllable of a name. Examples are:
Ifan > (If + -i) > Ifi (rhymes approximately with English ‘chivvy’)
Morus > (Mo + -i) > Moi)
Owen > (Ow + -i) > Owi (rhymes approximately with English ‘snowy’)


1
Iago
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -go
[ˈjaˑgɔ]
4 NOTES: James, Jacob

1
Ianto
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: IAN-to
[ˈjantɔ]
4 diminutive of Ifan [I-van]

1 Iantws
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: IAN-tus
[ˈjantʊs]
4 diminutive of Ifan [I-van] = John, Evan

1 Idris
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: I-dris
[ˈɪdrɪs]
4 NOTES: equivalent to modern Welsh spellings (*iudd = lord) + soft mutation + (rhys = vigour, impulse). This obsolete element *iudd is found in other Welsh names, the most well-known of which is Gruffudd (“Griffith”)

1 Idwal
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: ID-wal
[ˈɪdwal]
4 NOTES:

1
Iefan
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -van
[ˈjeˑvan]
4 NOTES: A development of the medieval name Ieuan = John, “Evan”. This gave the present form Ifan [I-van], in the same way that ieuanc = young has become ifanc in modern Welsh. Iefan was a south-eastern form of Ieuan, used colloquially until the early 1900s, but not found as a baptismal name.

1
Iestyn (Iestÿn)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: IE-stin
4 NOTES:

1
Ieu
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: IEI
4 NOTES: pet form of the name Ieuan [IEI-an]

1
Ieuan
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: IEI-an
4 NOTES: John A traditional form of the name John, from British < Latin. Colloquially it became Iefan, Efan, Ifan. In the 1900’s the medieval form Ieuan was revived. The short form is Ieu [IEI]

1
Ifan
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: Î-van
4 Ifan is the modern form of Ieuan = John . Originally it was a colloquial form, a reduction of Iefan, from Ieuan, with [ev] replacing [ei]. Pet forms of Ifan are Ianto [IAN-to], Iantws [IAN-tus], Ifi [I-vi]

1
Ifana
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: i--na
4 NOTES: Ifan + a = Joanna. Female names are sometimes made by adding ‘a’ to the male name.

1
Ifi
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: Î-vi
4 diminutive of Ifan [I-van]. Ifi is not used as a baptismal name

1
Ifor
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: Î-vor (note: ‘i’ as in Tim, not as in time)
4 NOTES: a rare example of a Scandinavian name which found its way into Welsh (probably via the Irish-Scandinavians who settled on parts of the west coast of
Wales)

 


1
Ilar
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: Î-lar
4 NOTES: In Dinbych there is
Capel y Santes Ilar (Chapel of Saint Ilar)

1
Ilid
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: Î-lid
4 NOTES:

1
Illtud
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: ILH-tid
4 NOTES: This saint’s name is found in village names (originally church names) in the south-east - Llanilltud (county: Powys), Llanilltud Fawr (county: Bro Morgannwg), Llanilltud Faerdre (county: Rhondda Cynon Taf), Llanilltud Fach (county: Castell-nedd ac Aberafan), Llanilltud Gŵyr (county: Abertawe).

1 Illtÿd
2 (
name for a male).

A less etymological spelling of Illtud

 

1 Ioan
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -an
4 NOTES: John This was the form that the translators of the Bible preferred to use, taken directly from the Greek form. The traditional form was Ieuan (which became Iefan, Efan, Ifan)

1
Iolo
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: IOL-lo,
4 NOTES: This is a pet form of Iorwerth [IOR-werth], based on the first syllable, with a change of consonant r > l, and the addition of the diminutive suffix -o. It is used nowadays as a name in its own right.

1
Iori
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -ri
4 NOTES: A pet form of Iorwerth [IOR-werth] based on the first syllable, with the addition of the diminutive suffix -i. It is not used as a baptismal name however (or has not been used - some pet forms, like another (Iolo) based on Iorwerth, become independent given names)

1
Iorwerth
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: IOR-werth
4 NOTES: This has diminutives Iolo [IO-lo] and Iori [IO-ri]. In medieval times, Edward was used as an equivalent of this native name, although there is no real connection apart from a slight resemblance in form. Iorwerth is made up of the elements iôr = lord, gwerth = value.

 

1 Irfon
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: IR-von
4 NOTES: (Irfon, river name, South-east Wales)

1
Irfonwy (Irfonwÿ)
2 (name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: ir--nui
4 NOTES: (Irfon, river name, South-east Wales) + (suffix -wy used to adorn river names in the 1800s )

1
Islwyn (Islwÿn)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: IS-luin
4 NOTES: popular at the beginning of the 1900’s. No longer common though; now mainly an older generation name) Islwyn was the pen name of poet William Thomas, (1832-78), born by Ynys-ddu (in
county of Caerffili in south-east Wales). Ordnance Survey map reference: ST 1994. Overlooking the village is the hill known as Mynydd Islwyn (mynydd = mountain) + (islwyn = below the wood) from which he took his bardic name. It is made up of the elements “is” (lower; or as a prefix, below) + soft mutation + “llwyn” = wood.

1
Iwan
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: I-wan
4 NOTES: John (form of Ifan)

1
j
2 (
-)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -
4 NOTES: At one time this sound (a voiced palato-alveolar affricate) was not part of the Welsh sound system, and words taken from English with ‘j’ were accommodated by replacing it with a voiceless alveolar fricative + voiced palatal approximant [sy]. This was spelt as ‘si-’ in Welsh. Later this sound became palatalised in Welsh, [sh] (voiceless palato-alveolar fricative).

English John [joon] > Welsh Siôn [syoon], nowadays Siôn [shoon].

Nowadays the sound [j] is quite usual in Welsh (though there are older speakers in the north-west who are unable to produce this sound). In the case of personal names equivalent to English names beginning with [j], this means that there are often two forms of the same name - an earlier borrowing which is now pronounced with [sh], and a later borrowing pronounced with [j].

Examples are:
John (Welsh Siôn, Jon)
James (Welsh Siâms, Jâms, Jêms)
Jane (Welsh Siân, Jên)
George (Welsh Siôr) (Also Jorj, but never written as such - the English spelling is always used in this case)


These older forms with ‘si-’ generally preserve the former English long vowel which changed to a diphthong in the long-vowel shifts circa 1500. Jane and James would have had a long ‘a’ [aa], which the Welsh names retain - Siân, Siâms.

1
Jac
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: JAK
4 NOTES: Jack. Just as the English name is used as a pet form of John, the Welsh form Jac is used for Siôn and Jon

1
Jâms
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: JAAMS
4 NOTES: James. This represents an older borrowing from English because around 1500 the English pronunciation changes {Jaamz} > {Jeimz}

1
Jên
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: JEEN
4 Jane - usually spelt ‘Jane’ as in English. The genuine Welsh form is in fact Siân, although this too in origin is a borrowing from English

1
Jeni
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -ni
4 Jenny - a pet form of Jên = Jane

1
Jonas
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -nas
4 Jonah
Matthew 12:40 Canys fel y bu Jonas dridiau a thair nos ym mol y morfil...
Matthew
12:40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly...

1
Jon
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: JON
4 NOTES: John. This is usually spelt when used as a baptismal name in the English way, with ‘h’, as though it were still a foreign name. It should however be considered another Welsh form by now, adding to the list of equivalent names borrowed over the centuries from various sources
(1) Latin > British > Welsh: Ieuan / Iefan / Ifan / Iwan
(2) Greek: Ioan (from the Welsh translation of the Bible from the Greek version)
(3) Middle English: Siôn
(4) Modern English: Jon
The diminutive Joni is never written with an ‘h’. There are instances of the spelling ‘Jon’ by some writers. There seem to be a couple of examples at the present time of Welshman preferring the spelling ‘Jon’. Sometimes though it is the English short form of the English name (from the Biblical name) Jonathan.

1
Joni
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -ni
4 NOTES: diminutive form of Jon. As the ‘o’ is short, the spelling Jonni would be more correct in Welsh

1
Lal
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: LAL
[lal]
4 NOTES: Pet name for Sara; from the pet form Sal [SAL] with change of intial consonant

1
Lali
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -li
4 NOTES: Pet name for Sara; from the pet form Sali [SA-li] with change of intial consonant

1 Lefi
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -vi
4 NOTES: = Levy

 

1 Lewis
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: LEU-is
4 NOTES: Lewis, Louis

1
Lewsyn (Lewsÿn)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: LEU-sin
4 NOTES: Pet form of Lewys [LEU-is], through the contraction of the name to a single syllable and the addtion of the suffix -yn (cf Hywel > Hwlcyn, Hwlyn)

1
Lewys (Lewÿs)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: LEU-is,
4 NOTES: A diminutive form is Lewsyn [LEU-sin]

1
Lisa
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -sa
4 NOTES: Dimutive form of Elizabeth. Probably the English diminutive form taken into Welsh

1
Lleision
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: LHEI-shon
[ˈɬeiʃɔn]
4 llais = voice; -on = suffix usually found in names of Celtic deities

1
Llelo
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: LHÊ-lo,
4 NOTE: A diminutive form of Llewelyn [lhe-WE-lin], a variant form of Llywelyn [lhø-WE-lin]

1
Lleucu
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: LHEI-ki
[ˈɬeikɪ]
4 Considered to be the Welsh equivalent of ‘Lucy’ though in fact there is no connection, apart from the sequence of letters l-c in the written form of the name.

 

William the son of John William and Lleykey his wife was baptised the last day of December 1676 (p.32 Register of Glasbury, Thomas Wood, 1904)



1 Llew
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: LHEU
4 NOTES: A diminutive form of Llewelyn [lhe--lin], a variant form of Llywelyn [lhø--lin]

1
Llewela
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: lhe--la
4 NOTES: See Llywela [lhø--la]

1
Llewelyn (Llewelÿn)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: lhø--lin
4 NOTES: See Llywelyn

 

1 Llifon
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: LHÎ-von
4 NOTES: In current use. Name of a river and a cwmwd (medieval neighbourhood) in Ynys Môn /
Anglesey.

1
Llinos
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: LHÎ-nos
4 NOTES: meaning is ‘greenfinch’; the name of the bird - an attractive green grain-eater - comes ultimately from ‘llin’ = flax, flaxseed.

1 Llio
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: LHÎ-o
[ˈɬiˑɔ]
4 NOTES:

 

1 Llion
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: LHÎ-on
[ˈɬiˑɔn]
4 NOTES: In current use

 
1
Lliwelydd (Lliwelÿdd)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: lhi--lidh
4 NOTES: Not in current use. It is familiar to Welsh speakers as it occurs in the Welsh name for
Carlisle, an English town on the Scottish border, though at one time Welsh or ‘Cumbrian’ territory. The Welsh name is Caerliwelÿdd (‘fort of Llywelÿdd’)


1
Llwchwr
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: LHÛ-khur
[ˈɬuˑxʊr]
4 NOTES: river name, south-west Wales

1
Llwyd (Llwÿd)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: LHUID
[ˈɬuid]
4 NOTES: ‘grey’. In English as ‘Lloyd’ and ‘Floyd’
 

1 Llynfi
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: LHØN-vi
[ˈɬənvɪ]
4 Name of a river in Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr county


1
Llŷr
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: LHÎR
[ˈɬiːr]
4 NOTES: Origin of the English name Lear,as in Shakespeare’s King Lear. It is in current use, though not common, having been revived in the 1960’s

1
Llywarch (Llγwarch)
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: LHØ-warkh
4 NOTES: British:

 

*LUGU-MARK-O- LUG- (= Celtic sun god), MARK- (= horse). These elements correspond to modern Welsh LLEU (same meaning), MARCH (same meaning).

 

MEANING: ‘horse of Lleu’ (if the elements in such names were combined meaningfully - possibly they are two elements taken from the names of relatives or admired people, real or mythological, with no thought as to what the two elements combined would mean)

1
Llywela (Llγwela)
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: lhø--la
4 Probably Llywelyn with the final -yn’ removed and replaced with -a, a suffix used in forming female names.

 

The ‘-yn’ has been presumed to be the masculine diminutive suffix (though in this name this is not so).

1
Llywelydd (Llγwelÿdd)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: lhø--lidh
4 NOTES: Not in current use.

1
Llywelyn (Llγwelÿn)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: lhø--lin,
4 NOTES: From a British form LUGU-BELINO-. The elements are Lug- (the Celtic sun god), and belin- (war). Diminutives of Llywelyn / Llewelyn are Llew [LHEU], Lyn [LIN]

1
Lowri
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: LOW-ri
[ˈlourɪ]
4 NOTES: Equivalent to English Laura

1
Lyn (Lÿn)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: LIN = < lhø-WE-lin
4 NOTES: A pet form of Llywelyn - the last syllable of this name. With increasing Anglicisation of Wales, people are more familiar with [lin] as an English girl’s name Lynn / Lynne, and this has probably halted the more general use of the boy’s name Lyn.

1
Lynwen  (Lγnwen)
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: LØN-wen
4 NOTES: in current use; dates from the 1960’s??

1
Mabon
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -bon
[ˈmaˑbɔn]
4 NOTES: there is a church and parish Llanfabon in south-east
Wales ‘church (of) Mabon’

1
Machreth
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: MAKH-reth
4 NOTES: A Celtic saint’s name, preserved in the village name Llanfachreth. The name was is more exactly Machraith, but in colloquial Welsh the diphthong -ai- in a final syllable becomes -e- (or -a- in the north-west corner of
Wales - the counties of Gwynedd, Môn, Conwy) and the south east (the older regions of Morgannwg and Gwent). Machraith is (mach = pact) + soft mutation + (rhaith = law).

Tarian y Gweithiwr 24 12 1908. Nodion o Rhymni (sic). Gan Owain Glyndwr. Dymunaf hysbysu y beirdd o Gaerdydd i Gaergybi, fod Pwyllgor Eisteddfodol Cadair Gwent, eleni eto, wedi sicrhau beirniad o allu, gonestrwydd, a safle yn mherson y Prif-fardd Barchedig Machreth Rees, Llundain.

Beirniad hyddysg dysg a dawn - i osod
Y pwysau yn gyfiawn;
Machreth Rees! mae uwch rhoi i’th rawn
Awenydd, ond mesur uniawn

Tarian y Gweithiwr (the shield of the worker) 24 12 1908. Notes from Rhymni. By Owain Glyndwr. I would like to inform the poets from Caerdydd to Caergybi (= from one end of Wales to the other), that the committee for the chaired eisteddfod of Gwent, this year once again, has secured an adjudicator of ability, honesty and standing in the personof the Grand Poet the reverend Machreth Rees, of London.

An erudite adjudicator of learning and talent - to place
The weights fairly
Machreth Rees! he is above giving to your fruit
of the Muse, anything but the exact measure

1
Madog
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -dog
4 NOTES:

1
Maelog
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: MEI-log
[ˈmeilɔg]
4 NOTES:

1
Màg
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: MAG
4 NOTES: Pet form of Marged [MAR-ged] = Margaret

1
Magi
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: MÂ-gi
4 NOTES: Pet form of Marged [MAR-ged] = Margaret (Mag + diminutive suffix -i)

1
Magwen
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: MA-gwen
4 NOTES: Name base on Mag (a pet form of Marged [MAR-ged] = Margaret) and the addition of the suffix -wen freely used in the coining of Welsh female names

1
Magws
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: MÂ-gus
4 NOTES: Pet form of Marged [MAR-ged] = Margaret (Mag + diminutive suffix -ws)

1
Mai
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: MAI
[mai]
4 NOTES: = (month of) May

1
Mair
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: MAIR
[mair]
4 NOTES: Mary. This is the form used in the Welsh Bible for the Virgin Mary, and occurs all over Wales in the very common village name Llanfair (church dedicated to the Virign Mary).

 

In the 1800s the name meaning ‘Mary’ was Mari, taken from English in its older pronunciation (that is, as in the word ‘marry’) (Wales was - and still is for the most part - a country where the administration refuses to recognise the language its Welsh-speaking inhabitants. The name Mari, as in the cases of most other Welsh names, appeared in official documents as if an English name Mary. The Classical form Mair was revived and has become common in the 1900s.

1
Mairwen
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: MAIR-wen
4 NOTES: Form of Meirwen [MEIR-wen], which is a more correct form. Meaning: (blessed / holy) + (Mary). From (Mair = Mary) + (-wen, soft-mutated form og “gwen”, the feminine form of “gwyn” = white, brilliant, holy, blessed; also used as a suffix to form feminine names).

 

The diphthong ‘ai’, in the syllable before last, properly becomes ‘ei’ in the formation of compound words in Welsh.

1
Mal
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: MAL
[mal]
4 NOTES: Short form of Maldwyn [MALD-win]. Not used as a baptismal name.

1
Maldwyn (Maldwÿn)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: MALD-win
[ˈmaldwɪn]
4 NOTES: The name Maldwyn is used popularly for Sir Drefaldwyn (the
county of Trefaldwyn). This county was abolished in 1974 and is now the northernmost division of the modern county of Powys. The old county created when Wales was annexed to England in 1536 was administered from the Norman borough of Trefaldwyn (the) town (of) Baldwin. (The English call this town “Montgomery”).

 

The two elements of the name are (TREF = town) + soft mutation + (BALDWYN = Baldwin).

 

In Welsh morphology, the initial consonant of a name in a construction equivalent to English ‘town (of) Balwyn’ would undergo soft mutation, to give ‘town (of) Valdwin’. This is what has happened in Trefaldwyn (the sound [v] being written ‘f’ in Welsh, of course).

 

But [v] ‘f’’ is not only the soft mutation of the consonant ‘b’, but also of ‘m’. In a handful of words in Welsh, there is confusion, and words which should begin with ‘b’ now begin with ‘m’, and vice versa.


benyw (= woman) (related to the Irish word ‘bean’ = woman)
y fenyw (= the woman) (there is soft mutation in Welsh of the initial consonant of a feminine word after the definite article ‘y’)
In some dialects, the original form has been assumed to be ‘menyw’ rather than ‘benyw’.


And this is what happened with Trefaldwyn - it was supposed that the original name was ‘Maldwyn’, though in fact it was ‘Baldwyn’. Although
Baldwin was a Norman, and so a Norman-French speaker, the name is Germanic in origin (‘bold’ + ‘friend’).

1
Malen
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -len
[ˈmaˑlɛn]
4 NOTES: A pet form of Mari [-ri] (= the English name Mary). Form Mal-, a pet form of Mari with the subsitution of ‘l’ for ‘r’ (probably from a childish pronunciation), with the addition of the diminutive suffix -en. Exists as a baptismal name.
“All the provinces of
Wales differ greatly in their local pronunciation; where it is said caseg [= mare] in one district, it is pronounced casig in another; also tattws [= potatoes] instead of tatto, Magws for Margaret; Palws, Malws, Mali for Mary, &c.... Màli and Màlen are common in Dyved”PECULIAR PHRASEOLOGIES’ Archaeologia Cambrensis, Year 1857 (?) pp36-38

1
Mali
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -li
[ˈmaˑlɪ]
4 NOTES: A pet form of Mari [-ri] (= the English name Mary).

 

From MAL-, a pet form of MARI with the subsitution of ‘l’ for ‘r’ (probably from a childish pronunciation), with the addition of the diminutive suffix -i.

 

Not used as a baptismal name. Compare MALEN and MALWS.


“All the provinces of
Wales differ greatly in their local pronunciation; where it is said caseg [= mare] in one district, it is pronounced casig in another; also tattws [= potatoes] instead of tatto, Magws for Margaret; Palws, Malws, Mali for Mary, &c.... Màli and Màlen are common in Dyved”PECULIAR PHRASEOLOGIES’ Archaeologia Cambrensis, Year 1857 (?) pp36-38

1
Mallt
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: MALHT
[maɬt]
4 NOTES: Maud.

1
Malws
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -lus
[ˈmaˑlʊs]
4 NOTES: A pet form of Mari [-ri] (= the English name Mary). From Mal-, a pet form of Mari with the subsitution of ‘l’ for ‘r’ (probably from a childish pronunciation), with the addition of the diminutive suffix -ws. Not used as a baptismal name. Compare Malen.


“All the provinces of
Wales differ greatly in their local pronunciation; where it is said caseg [= mare] in one district, it is pronounced casig in another; also tattws [= potatoes] instead of tatto, Magws for Margaret; Palws, Malws, Mali for Mary, &c.... Màli and Màlen are common in Dyved”PECULIAR PHRASEOLOGIES’ Archaeologia Cambrensis, Year 1857 (?) pp36-38

1
Marc
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: MARK
[ˈmark]
4 NOTES: Mark. Twentieth-century adaptation of an English forename.

1
Marchell
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: MAR-khelh
[ˈmarxɛɬ]
4 NOTES: Marcellus. No examples to hand - I have an idea that it is / was sometimes used as a middle name, taken from place names which include ‘Marchell’. The Latin name Marcellus was taken into British (i.e. proto-Welsh, the pre 400 A.D. language).

 

There is an abbey called Ystrad Marchell near Y Trallwng (‘Welshpool’) in the county of Powys

1
Mared
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: MA-red
[ˈmaˑrɛd].
4 NOTES: In use as a baptismal name. Also found spelt Marred.

Mared / Marred is a reduced form of Marged. Equivalent to English Margaret.

1
Maredudd
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: ma-RE-didh
[maˈreˑdɪð]
4 NOTES: Englished as ‘Meredith’. In Welsh, it is only a boy’s name. The use of it as a girl’s name is peculiar to the
USA; ??apparently from a work of fiction where the heroine was given the name in the mistaken assumption that it was a female name (Can anybody confirm this?)

1 Margareta
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: mar-ga-RE-ta
[margaˈrɛta]
4 NOTES: An English name, a variation of Margaret. Usually spelt as in English with two ‘t’s - Margaretta - though a Welsh spelling would have only one t. It had a certain vogue in the early 1900s. The diminutive form is Geta



1 Marged
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: MAR-ged
[ˈmargɛd]
4 NOTES: Equivalent to English Margaret.

 

It has a number of diminutive forms - Meg, Begw, Megan, Mag, Magws, Magi, Magwen, Peg, Pegi, Pegan) [MEG, -gu, -gan, MAG, -gus, -gi, MA-gwen, PEG, -gi, -gan]

1
Mari
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -ri
[ˈmaˑrɪ]
4 NOTES: Mary. From a pre-modern English form.

 

 The Welsh name preserves zn older English pronunciation.

 

Henry Sweet, in a study of the Welsh language in a village in North-west Wales, notes in the Transactions of the Philological Society 18 February 1881: “Mary is now (meri), but the older form (mari) still lingers, while the genuine Welsh Mair, formed directly from Maria, survives only in Biblical language.”

 

In fact, Mair (qv) has since become a popular given name.

1
Marred
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: MA-red
[ˈmarɛd]
4 NOTES: A form of Marged = Margaret. In use as a baptismal name. The more usual form is spelt with a single ‘r’: Mared.

1
Mati
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: MA ti
[ˈmatɪ]
4 NOTES: pet form of Martha. Not used as a baptismal name.

1
Mefus
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: ME-vis
[ˈmeˑvɪs]
4 NOTES: Rare

5 ETYMOLOGY: = strawberries

1
Meg
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: [MEG]
[mɛg]
4 NOTES: diminutive form of Marged
[MAR-ged]

1
Megan
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -gan
[ˈmeˑgan]
4 NOTES: from Meg, diminutive form of Marged (“Margaret”) with the diminutive suffix ‘-an’

1
Megwen
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: ME-gwen
[ˈmɛgwɛn]
4 NOTES: from Meg, diminutive form of Marged (“Margaret”) and the addition of the suffix -wen freely used in the coining of Welsh female names

1
Meic
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: MEIK
[meik]
4 NOTES: Mike. In use in the 1900s. It is English Mike with the usual adaptation of the English diphthong [ai] to [ei] when Cymricising a word.

1
Meillionen
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: meilh-YÔ-nen
[meiɬˈjɔnɛn]
4 NOTES: Rare.

5 ETYMOLOGY: = clover leaf.

1
Meilyr (Meilÿr)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: MEI-lir
[ˈmeilɪr]
4 NOTES: From British *MAGLO-RÎKS, (big, great) + (king). The corresponding name in Breton is Meler. In current use.

1
Meinir
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: MEI-nir
[ˈmeinɪr]
4 NOTES:

 

ETYMOLGY: ‘maiden’ literally “(a) slim and tall (female person)”


(MEIN- penult form of
MAIN = slim} + (HIR = tall).


(In modern Welsh, tall is TAL, taken from English)
 

1
Meinwen
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: MEIN-wen
[ˈmeinwɛn]
4 NOTES: Middle Welsh = maiden, literally “(a) slim and fair (female person)
(MEIN- penult form of
MAIN = slim} + (-WEN = white, fair, pretty; soft.mutated form of GWEN, feminine form of GWŸN)

1 Meira
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: MEI-ra
[ˈmeira]
4 NOTES:

5: ETYMOLOGY: Apparently (MEIR- penult form of MAIR = Mary} + (-A suffix used in creating names for a female)


1
Meirion
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: MEIR-yon
[ˈmeirjɔn]
4 NOTES: In current use. The short form is Mei.

 

From Meirionydd, the territory of Marion-, an early Welsh aristocratic leader.
Marion- is fro the Latin name Mariânus
 

1
Meiriona
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: meir-YÔ-na
[meirˈjoˑna]
4 NOTES: Meirion + -a; a male name made female by the addition of the suffix -a.

1
Meirionwen
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: meir-YON-wen
[meirˈjonwɛn]
4 NOTES: Meirion + -wen; Meirion + -a; a male name made female by the addition of the suffix -wen.

1
Meirwen
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: MEIR-wen
[ˈmeirwɛn]
4 NOTES: (MAIR = Mary) + (-WEN suffix for names fro females; = white, holy)

1 Melangell
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: me-LA-ngelh
[mɛˈlaŋɛɬ]
4 NOTES: In current use.

Name of the patron of the church of Pennant Melangell, in Dyffryn Tanat (valley of the Tanat river), Powys, two miles from the village of Llangynog. She was the daughter of an Irish king who came to the island of Britain in the 600s to find a secluded spot to live a life of divine contemplation.

 

Latin name: Monacella

 

1 Melfyn (Melfÿn)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: MEL-vin
[ˈmɛlvɪn]
4 NOTES:

1
Menai
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: ME-nai
[ˈmeˑnai].
4 NOTES: name of the strait separating the
island of Môn from mainland Wales - a picturesque area.

1 Meleri
2 (
name for a female) me--ri [mɛˈleˑrɪ]

See Teleri



1
Menna
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: ME-na
[ˈmɛna]
4 NOTES:

1
Meredydd (Meredÿdd)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: me--didh
[mɛˈreˑdɪð]
4 NOTES: Englished as Meredith, where the final ‘dd’ (as in ‘this, that and the other’) has become English ‘th’ (as in ‘thin’). A form derived from the earlier Maredudd [ma-RÊ-didh]
[maˈreˑdɪð].

 

In the USA for some reason Meredith has become a girl’s name.

 

See Maredudd.


The substitution of English -th for Welsh -dd occurs in other names and words taken into English.

Meirionÿdd (former county in the north-west) > Merioneth;

(Castell-)nedd (town in south-east Wales) > Neath.

1
Merfyn (Merfÿn)
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: MER-vin
[ˈmɛrvɪn]
4 NOTES:

1
Meurig
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: MEI-rig
[ˈmeirɪg]
4 NOTES: from Latin Mauritius, which is also the basis of the English name Morris.

Because Welsh Meurig and English Morris are the same name, sometimes an individual with the forename Meurig might use Morris too as an English equivalent.

 

In other cases the English forename Morris replaced Meurig.

 

Later Morris came to be regarded as a separate Welsh forename (spelt in Welsh Morus, or Morys). See Morus below.

The forename Meurig is sometimes spelt in English (as Meirick, Meyrick).

With the imposition of an English administration after the annexation of Wales to England in 1536 which required the adoption of English naming practices the patronymic ap Meurig (“son (of) Meurig”), later reduced to simply Meurig (“(son of) Meurig”), became a fixed surname.

Fixed surnames were spelt in English - hence Meyrick.

1
Mihangel
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: mi-HA-ngel
4 NOTES: Michael Archangel. Not used as a given name until modern times. Still very unusual as a first name in the modern period. It is found all over Wales in churches built by or rededicated by the Norman conquerers to the Archangel - there are many villages called Llanfihangel named from their parish church.

 

1 Mirain
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: MI-rain
[ˈmiˑrain]
4 NOTES: = lovely, beautiful, fair. In current use.

5 ORIGIN: A word in use in literary Welsh, but no longer used in the spoken language. It occurs in a line of poetry by Casnodyn (one of the “Gogynfeirdd”, Welsh poets of the period from the 1100s to the 1300s. In an “awdl” (an alliterative poem combining different metres) to Gwenllian, wife of Sir Gruffudd Llwyd, there is the line Main firain riain gain Gymraeg – (“slender lovely maiden (with) elegant Welsh speech”)

1
Moelwyn (Moelwÿn) [ˈmoilwɪn]
2 (name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: MOIL-win
4 NOTES: “bald (and) white” (moel = bald) + soft mutation + (gwyn = white).
The origin of this name in modern usage is uncertain. There is an instance of its use in the year 1292 (Ieuan ap Moelwyn = John son of Moelwyn).


In the parish of Ffestiniog in the county of Gwynedd there are two mountains known as Moelwyn Bach and Moelwyn Mawr, and it seems more likely that the name in the modern period (it may have been first used in the late 1800s) comes from this, possibly via its use as a poet’s byname or pseudonym, and then adopted by admirers or realtives of the person with the pseudonum as a name for a child.


Cf Berwyn, another mountain name which has become a first name.

1
Moi
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: MOI
[moi]
4 NOTES: A diminutive of the forename Morus [MO-ris] (= first syllable
MO-) + (-I diminutive ending)

1
Moli
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -li
4 NOTES: Diminutive of Mari (= Mary).

In fact, the diminutive was not formed in Welsh. It is the English diminutive form Molly.

1
Morfudd
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: MOR-vidh
[ˈmɔrvɪð]
4 NOTES:

1
Morgan
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: MOR-gan
[ˈmɔrgan]
4 NOTES: A teapot is referred to as Morgan in Welsh.
Mae Morgan yn berwi = the kettle is boiling;
yr hen Forgan = old Morgan (ie the kettle),
hen Forgan y Tegell = old Morgan the kettle

In the USA it is used as a female name, though in Wales it is always a male name.

5 ETYMOLOGY: Old Welsh MORGANT.

 

1 Morgana
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: mor--na
[ˈmɔrgaˑna]

4 NOTES: Possibly not in use a Welsh name; it seems to occur outside Wales. If a Welsh name, it is a femininisation of Morgan (MORGAN) + (-A suffix for forming female names)


1
Morus
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: MÔ-ris
[ˈmoˑrɪs]

4 NOTES: Morris or Maurice. Ths diminutive form is Moi (qv).

1
Morwen
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: MOR-wen
[ˈmɔrwɛn]
4 NOTES:

1
Myfanwy (Mγfanwÿ)
2 (name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION:mø--nui
[məˈvaˑnui]
4 NOTES:


(i) MY [mø] = my, belonging to me; used in Old Welsh to form pet names.


(ii) BANWY is a variation of BANW = woman, daughter (now both obsolete words in Welsh).
Related to the English words QUEEN, Irish BEAN

 (= woman), Greek BANA.


(MY = my) + SOFT MUTATION + (BANWY = woman) > MYFANWY, literally “(dear) girl, my (dear) girl” popular at the end of the last century and at the beginning of this; name of a popular tune written by Syr Joseph Parry, of Merthyrtudful (Wales) and Danville (USA); now an older generation name, and apparently no longer given as a name.
See Blodwen

The diminutive forms are Myf [MØV], Myfi [MØ-vi], Fanw [VÂ-nu] (qv).

1
Myf (Mγf)
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: MØV
[məv]
4 NOTES: pet form of Myfanwy [mø--nui]
[məˈvaˑnui]

1
Myfi (Mγfi)
2 (
name for a female)
3 PRONUNCIATION: -vi
[ˈməˑvɪ]
4 NOTES: pet form of Myfanwy [mø--nui]
[məˈvaˑnui]

1
Myrddin (Mγrddin)
2 (
name for a male)
3 PRONUNCIATION: MØR-dhin
[ˈmərðɪn]
4 NOTES: An invented name, sometime around the year 1000, when a myth from the old Welsh territories of The Old North (now northern England and southern Scotland), probably brought to Wales by refugees after the Old North was overrun by the English, was given a new setting in South Wales, in Caerfyrddin.

The name was explained as ‘the fort of Myrddin’, and the magician and prophet was given this name Myrddin.

The name Myrddin in fact is from British MORI-DUN- ‘maritime fort’, the name of a British hilltop fort in Caerfyrddin. The Romans built a fort (‘caer’ in Welsh) here down by the river, and the town name is in fact ‘(the Roman) fort (by the hilltop fort of) Mori-dun-’


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Adolygiad diweddaraf - latest update: 2001-01-01 a couple of additions; some minor errors corrected) , 2006-09-27 minor corrections; 2006-09-30 more correctons, and addition of names

2006-11-27


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