Welsh Names Tom Taylor

Historic Patronymics In 1292, 48 per cent of Welsh names were patronymics, and in some parishes over 70 % By the 17th century the fixed surname was apparent in most of Wales although examples of the old naming tradition have been found in 19th century records

Patronymics Mab (Map) means “son of” in Welsh – Similar to Mac in Scottish or Mc in Irish – The Mab or Map reduced to just the final B or P – Bowen = Mab Owen, the son of Owen – Parry = Map Harry, son of Harry – Loads of early saints have these types of names: Bennion, Bevan, Prichart, Price, – Llewelyn ap Dafydd ab Ieuan ap Griffith ap Meredith – Upjohn (from ap John)

Welsh “S” Endings The Possessive or Genitive “S” ending means a possessive Loads of the most popular Welsh names are of this type Jones, Thomas, Roberts, Evans, Mathews, Williams, Lewis and Davis or Davies

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

Place Names Often some names would become so repetitive that they would be augmented with the home town William Willaims, Pantycelyn is such a one. Wrote Guide Us O Thou Great Jehovah and other hymns

Name Distribution in Wales and England WALES 1 Jones 13.84% 2 Williams 8.91% 3 Davies 7.09% 4 Thomas Evans Roberts Hughes Lewis Morgan Griffiths 2.58 Total 55.85

Occupational names in Welsh few occupational surnames exist in Welsh Wales is a dominantly agricultural society limited number of occupation surnames Gwas (servant) became the Welsh surname Wace Crowther is another uncommon Welsh surname derived from crythor, the player of the crwth The Welsh saer (carpenter) has become Sear/s around the Pembrokeshire-Carmarthenshire border

Biblical Names Most countries chose to use New Testament names, the Welsh were keen on OT names, often thought to be Jewish surnames in Wales Aaron; Abraham/Abrahams; Daniel/Daniels; Elias (the Welsh form of Elisha); Emanuel/Emanuels; Enoch, Gabriel, Isaac/Isaacs, Joseph/Josephs; Moses; Samuel/Samuels; Solomon; Jeremiah