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Welsh Naming Patterns

Welsh Naming Patterns

Owned by Liz Hardie
Last updated: Apr 06, 2015

Welsh Naming Patterns

The Welsh used an ancient Patronymic naming system whereby the children of a marriage took their fathers forename as their surname. Women rarely took on their husband's family names, rather retaining their maiden names. This makes family history complex, but there was a commonly used naming standard in place that combined the use of christian names with patronymic surnames.

first son - full name of paternal grandfather 

 

first daughter - full name of paternal grandmother

 

second son - full name of maternal grandfather

 

second daughter - full name of maternal grandmother

 

third son - full name of father

 

third daughter - full name of mother

 


Related Links

Welsh Surnames - Wikipedia

Welsh Naming - BBC 

A Simple Guide to Constructing 13th Century Welsh Names 

A Simple Guide to Constructing 16th Century Welsh Names

Welsh Surnames

Using this model makes it relatively easy to deduce the name of grandchildren from grandparents and vice versa. An example of this in practise would be Catherine Hughes (daughter of Hugh Hughes and Susan Thomas) married Richard William (son of William Prichard and Sarah Evans) the name of their children in order would be William Prichard, Hugh Hughes, Richard William, Sarah Evans, Susan Thomas and Catherine Hughes

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