Table Of ContentWELSHSURNAMES
WELSH SURNAMES
by
T.J.Morgan M.A., D.Litt., LL.D.
and Prys Morgan M.A., D.Phil.
CARDIFF
UNIVERSITYOFWALES PRESS
1985
©T.]. Morganand Prys Morgan, 1985
BritishLibraryCataloguingin PublicationData
Morgan,T.].
Welsh surnames.
I. Names, Personal-Wales
I. Title 11.Morgan, Prys
929.4'2'09429 C52445
ISBN 0-7083-0880-5
ISBN 0-7083-0936-4(Pbk)
Allrightsreserved. Nopartofthisbookmaybereproduced,storedinaretrievelsystem,ortrans
mitted,ina'!Yformorbya'!Ymeans,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recordingorotherwise,
withoutclearancefromtheUnioersityofWalesPress.
Typesettingby Keystrokes,Cardiff
PrintedinGreatBritainby].W. ArrowsmithLtd., Bristol
Contents
Page
Preface
Introduction
1.THEORTHOGRAPHYOF WELSHSURNAMES 5
2. THEPATRONYMICSYSTEM 10
3. DESCRIPTIVESURNAMES 25
4. PLACE-NAMESASSURNAMES 27
5. HYPOCORISTIC NAMES 32
Abbreviations 36
ALPHABETICALCLASSIFICATION 41
Bibliography 206
Preface
THEPRIMARYaimofthis workisnottoexplainthe 'meanings'ofWelshnames: rather
ittriestoprovideahistoricalsurveyofhowthedistinctiveWelshsurnamescameabout.
Totake one instance, the earliestversionofthenameGrijfithisGrippiud; this versionas
aresultofnaturalchangesbecameGrulfudd, Gruffydd,andeventuallyendsupasGrilfiths
and on the way, especially in colloquial usage, produces a large number ofvariant
forms such asGriJfies, Grephies,etc. moremarkedlyin therecordsofthe Englishborder
counties. Inadditiontherewere the 'hypocoristic' or pet forms, Guto andGutynwhich
changeto Gittoes, Gittings, etc.
Thesourcesused, althoughnotexhaustive, areIbelieveawide andfair representa
tion. Texts which have a colloquial quality are particularlyvaluable since they often
record versions which are corrupt: these in many instances are clues to versions not
found in places or at levels more literary or formal, for instance, texts of pedigrees.
Ideally, ofcourse, one would wish to quote examples which in their printed form
exactlyreproducedtheoriginal,withoutanyorwiththe bareminimumofalterationor
editing, so that one could feel quite confident that one was looking at the unaltered
'original'eventhoughtheywereglaringexamplesofcorruption.Onehas torealisethat
early texts are not in manycases editedand publishedfor the sakeofsomeonewhose
interest isconcernedwith the linguistic aspectand in the actual form ofthe text, but
quite often for the sake of historians. For instance, Mr Peter Bartrum in the con
struction of his massive work on pedigrees has naturally made use ofa number of
variantsources, bothinmanuscriptformorprinted, anditisproperthatheshoulduse
recognised standard forms of names and make no attempt to reproduce the several
versionsofthe differenttextswhichwouldresult in ajungleofvariants.
Some texts are translations of the original Latin, for instance the Caernarvon
Quarter Session Rolls, and the Caernarvon Court Rolls, and the names generally
appear in modern edited forms although at times the actual MS version is given in
bracketsifitisjudgedtobe ofinterest. In apublicationsuchastheStarChamberProceed
ings the names are given for each reign so that the names ofeach county are kept
together. It shouldtherefore be understood that in a fair proportionofthe texts from
whichexampleshavebeentaken, the formsofnamesmaynotbetheactualmanuscript
versionandallowancemustbe madeforthis. Certainothertextshavethe originalwith
an English translation, e.g. TheRecordofCarnarvon and TheBlackBookofSt David's.
Cautionofanother sort isneeded when use isbeingmadeofsome of these texts: the
editorsofthe two books mentionedseemto have no knowledgeofWelsh so that they
were at timesliabletoconfusewomen'snameswithmen'snames, especiallyiffil. orf
isused forfiliusandforfilia;andsincetheyfrequentlyprintformssuchasHonaforwhat
shouldbeHoua(Hwfa)onehastoconcludethattheyweremisledbythemedievalscript
in which nand u are difficult to make out. Modern Welsh scholarship enables us,
generallyspeaking, to makethenecessaryadjustmentsandtosuggestwhattheproper
reading should be. Other documents requiring the same kind ofcorrective are the
officialgovernmentpublicationsofthe 'LettersandPapers:class. It isoneofthemain
concernsofthis worktoprovideevidencethatanunexpectedlylargenumberofnames
inuseoutsideWalesareWelshinorigin, muchalteredandcorrupted, sothatitwas an
enormousadvantagetohavetheShropshireParishRegistersinprintedform, generally
fully indexed: thoseyieldedagreatquantityofvaluableevidence, notonlyvaluablein
2 PREFACE
its amount, for in theentriesoverthe yearsconcerningthesamepersonsand the same
families, one often witnessed the process ofdecay and corruption. The bibliography
will show that a small number of Welsh parish registers have been published; the
registers ofcertain Gwent parishes published by Bradney are very valuable but one
must be very wary, even sceptical, concerning explanations of names offered by
Bradney. The parish registersofCumberlandand Westmorland are also available in
publishedform. Thepossibilityhadoccurredto my mindat anearlystagethatvestiges
ofNorthBritishnames mightbe found in theseareas; representativedocumentsofthe
medieval period were examined, such as Lay Subsidy Rolls, the published parish
registers, thepresent-dayparliamentarylists ofvoterscoveringtheareaasfar northas
Penrith and the Border. The investigation although not entirely fruitless, did not
provide much that couldbe confidentlyused; a few remote possibilities remain in my
mindwhichwouldrequireagooddealofphilologicalrepairwork, and this bookisnot
theplacefor conjectureandsuggestions.
Aconsiderableamountofmaterialcoveringthe borderareaofEnglandandWaleswas
examined: a thesis on the ancient documents of the lordship ofClun, the extent of
BromfieldandYale, the LordshipofOswestry, the records publishedin the Transactions
ofthe RadnorshireSociety, the parish registers already mentioned, a number of books
publishedin recentyearsincludethe Marchesin theirsurvey. Fromthe pointofviewof
this work, the English-Welsh borderarea is the most productive because many names
which disappeared from Wales were there retained, virtually if not completely. More
importantly, colloquial versions and nicknames were retained, and one sees the sound
changes coming about when Welsh forms were subjected to the pronunciations of an
Englishdialect. The namesandversionsofnameswhichsurvivedorweredeveloped in
the area now being considered would sooner or later spread into England generally,
and also back into Wales in spellings quite often different from their Welsh originals
or sounds.
Tomakeafairlycomprehensivesurveyofthemodernperiodnothingcouldbe more
complete than the registers of parliamentary and local elections for these include
virtually everybody. Returning officers agreed to make me a present of recently
obsolete lists of electors: the first batch were in force in 1959, the second in 1976.
Altogether I scrutinised the registers ofthe whole ofWales, and every constituency
followingalinesouthwardsfromPenrithtoStroud,thoughIcouldnotmanagethetask
ofcovering the whole ofLancashire. I was ofcourse not interested in finding con
ventional names such as Euans and Morgan, but a look out was kept for names less
obviouslyWelshinoriginorformalthoughobviouslyWelshinoriginsuchasDe Vonald
in Penrith which isjust Deoonall, Deoonald (from Dyfnwal) made to look French; or
Vellins in Cheadle which comes probably from the lenited form Felyn, Velin, as
compared with Melting, Mellings which stand for the unlenited versions. Although a
considerableamountofvaluableevidencewas collectedfrom these registersofelectors
Iamsurethatmanyvaluableformsandversionswerepassedby unnoticed;asthe work
progressed one came to realise that certain names, previously unsuspected, were of
Welsh origin and that examples had been seen somewhere in an earlierscrutiny and
allowed to slip by unrecorded. For instance, at a certain stage I happened to see and
considerthenameGwriadinLloydJones'sGeirfaandrealizedthatthe namewithoutits
initialG-was the originofU}riot, examplesofwhichIhadseeninpresent-dayelectoral
registers when I had no reason to pick them up. That is why I made so much use of
PREFACE 3
telephonedirectories, as akind of'repairservice' hopingthat Icould recoversomeof
these possiblelosses. Thename Gladdis, from GladysorGwladus, isa goodexample.
Electorallistsvaryagooddeal in the way theyareset out; togivethe preciselocation
ofa surname makes a very cumbersome source reference and I have here dispensed
withdetailsgivingwardandstreetnames. Ithas beenmy habit toscrutinisethe lists of
namesinnewspapersandIhavenot hesitatedtorecordexamplestakenfrom The Times,
The Daily Telegraphand The Western Mail. It was pleasing to see instances ofCundell,
CundallinvariouspartsofEngland, versionsofthenameCynddelw whichfellintodisuse
and did not producea surnamein theWelsh-speakingcommunity: finding Cundelu in
TheDaily Telegraphwas like bringingup the coelacanthin the fishing net.
Itwillbe realised by readers whostandat adistanceoutsideWelshscholarshipthat
for muchofthe contentofthis work it isentirelyunnecessary to provide references to
authorities.Tothosewhoarefamiliarwiththe languageandwithcontemporaryWelsh
scholarship, such statements would correspond to the tables of simple arithmetic.
Thereisno failure, I hope, togive referenceswherereallynecessary.
Iam particularlygratefultoProfessorG.O. Piercewhoreadilygaveme a numberof
valuablereferences; Mr BarryDavies(Lisvane, Cardiff), the localhistorian, deserves
my especial thanks for replyingto my enquiries, as does MajorFrancisjones, Wales
Herald Extraordinary, concerning his native county of Pembroke. I repeat my
appreciationofthe kindnessofchiefexecutivesorreturningofficerswhosentme copies
ofregistersofelectorsfree ofcharge. Thereare two archivistswhodid me a goodturn;
Mr B.C. jones, archivist of Cumbria County Council, who gave me much help
regarding the parish registers, published by the Cumberland and Westmorland
Antiquarian and Archaeological Society and otherearly documents such as the Poll
TaxforCarlisle(1377)andtheLaySubsidyforCumberland, 6thEdwardIll;andthe
archivist ofShropshire who arranged to send me a microfilm copy ofMiss G.E.A.
Raspin's thesis on theMarcherLordshipofClun (ADClun).
I have had in mind in the composition ofthis book that it would be consulted by
readers with no knowledge ofWelsh and have explained certain matters which the
nativespeakercanaffordtodisregard,andexplainedinawaythattheintelligentreader
who isnot alanguagespecialistcanfollow. I havealso had in mind that a bookofthis
kind will be consulted at odd times by persons interested in the origins oftheir own
nameorthose ofancestors and, at risk ofrepetition, haveavoided an excessofcross
references. Providingan index for this kind ofwork would require anothercomplete
volume. Instead, a 'guide' hasbeenprovidedwheneveritwas thoughtnecessary, e.g.
toenableareaderto find thesectionwhichincludedthenameorversionorcorruption
ofthatnamefallingoutsidetheobviousheadingthatmightconcernhim. Forexample,
theguidewill show thatversionsofBedomaybe found undertheheadingMeredith,
Iam deeplygratefultoMrsGwynethHughes, my formersecretaryin the University
College ofSwansea, for providing the typewritten copy. No words ofgratitude can
adequatelyexpressmy indebtednesstoMrjohnRhys, the directoroftheUniversityof
WalesPressandtohis assistant, MrIwanLlwydWilliams. FinallyIowe thankstothe
Leverhulme Trust for their grant towards my travelling expenses and other costs
involvedin the preparationandcompositionofthisbook.
Itwillnotrequiremuchdetectiontoseethattheoriginalmanuscriptofthisbookwas
very much longer and that I had to find means ofreducing its length. I have thus
omitted a large number of names which are well-known or self-explanatory, for
