Welsh placenames - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The placenames of Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

derive in most cases from the Welsh language

Welsh language

Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...

, but have also been influenced by linguistic contact with the Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

s, Anglo-Saxon

Anglo-Saxon

Anglo-Saxon may refer to:* Anglo-Saxons, a group that invaded Britain** Old English, their language** Anglo-Saxon England, their history, one of various ships* White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, an ethnicity* Anglo-Saxon economy, modern macroeconomic term...

s, Vikings, Anglo-Normans and modern English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

. The study of placenames

Toponymy

Toponymy is the scientific study of place names , their origins, meanings, use and typology. The word "toponymy" is derived from the Greek words tópos and ónoma . Toponymy is itself a branch of onomastics, the study of names of all kinds...

(or toponymy) in Wales reveals significant features of the country's history and geography, as well of the development of the Welsh language.

History

See: History of Wales
History of Wales
The history of Wales begins with the arrival of human beings in the region thousands of years ago. Neanderthals lived in what is now Wales, or Cymru in Welsh, at least 230,000 years ago, while Homo sapiens arrived by about 29,000 years ago...

During the 4th to 11th centuries, while Anglo-Saxon

Anglo-Saxon

and other invaders from Europe settled adjoining areas of Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

, Wales developed as a distinctive entity, keeping its own language, culture, legal code, and political structures. By stages between the 11th and 16th centuries, Wales was then subdued, conquered and eventually incorporated into the Kingdom of England

Kingdom of England

The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...

, while still retaining many distinct cultural features, most notably its language. Since then, there has been a mixing of cultures in Wales, with the English language dominant in industry and commerce, but with Welsh remaining as a living language, particularly in its stronghold, Y Fro Gymraeg
Y Fro Gymraeg
Y Fro Gymraeg is a name often used to refer to the linguistic area in Wales where the Welsh language is used by the majority or a large part of the population; it is the heartland of the Welsh language and comparable in that respect to the Gàidhealtachd of Scotland and Gaeltacht of Ireland...

in north-west, mid and west Wales. Welsh culture and political autonomy has been reasserted increasingly since the mid 19th century.

Language characteristics

See: Welsh language
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...

and History of the Welsh language
History of the Welsh language
The history of the Welsh language spans over 1400 years, encompassing the stages of the language known as Old Welsh, Middle Welsh, and Modern Welsh.-Origins:Welsh evolved from British, the Celtic language spoken by the ancient Britons...

The Welsh language developed from the Brythonic

Brythonic languages

The Brythonic or Brittonic languages form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic language family, the other being Goidelic. The name Brythonic was derived by Welsh Celticist John Rhys from the Welsh word Brython, meaning an indigenous Briton as opposed to an Anglo-Saxon or Gael...

languages spoken throughout southern Britain

Great Britain

in the centuries before the Anglo-Saxon

Anglo-Saxon

invasions which led to the creation of England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.
Many placenames in England, particularly of natural features such as rivers and hills, derive directly from this proto-Welsh language. Obvious examples are the numerous rivers named Avon

River Avon

River Avon is the name of many rivers:-England:*River Avon *River Avon *River Avon *River Avon *Avon Water -Scotland:*River Avon *River Avon...

, from the Welsh afon ("river"), and placenames such as Penrith

Penrith, Cumbria

Penrith was an urban district between 1894 and 1974, when it was merged into Eden District.The authority's area was coterminous with the civil parish of Penrith although when the council was abolished Penrith became an unparished area....

. The Cornish language

Cornish language

Cornish is a Brythonic Celtic language and a recognised minority language of the United Kingdom. Along with Welsh and Breton, it is directly descended from the ancient British language spoken throughout much of Britain before the English language came to dominate...

is closely related to Welsh, and many placenames in Cornwall

Cornwall

Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

(and to a lesser extent neighbouring Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

, Somerset

Somerset

The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...

and Dorset

Dorset

Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...

) therefore have similar origins to names in Wales. This is also true of Cumbria, where there are numerous examples of Brythonic placenames.

Welsh remains a living language, spoken as a first language by many in the country, and it is important to recognise that, like all languages, it has changed over time and continues to do so, for instance by accepting loan words from other languages such as Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

and English. The Welsh language itself has many characteristics which are unfamiliar to most speakers of English, and can make it confusing and difficult to understand. For example, it uses a number of mutations

Welsh morphology

The morphology of the Welsh language shows many characteristics perhaps unfamiliar to speakers of English or continental European languages like French or German, but has much in common with the other modern Insular Celtic languages: Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Manx, Cornish, and Breton. Welsh is a...

in different circumstances, so that, depending on how they are placed in relation to other words, initial consonants of words may change. In relation to place names, for example, this means that a church (llan

Llan place name element

Llan or Lan is a common place name element in Brythonic languages such as Welsh, Cornish, Breton, Cumbric, and possibly Pictish. In Wales there are over 630 place names beginning with 'Llan', pronounced...

) dedicated to Mary (Mair) becomes Llanfair, the initial m of Mair changing to f. Other changes can apply to internal vowels. There are also differences between Welsh and English in how some letters are pronounced, and this has affected how placenames are spelled in the two languages. For instance, a single f in Welsh is always pronounced "v", while ff is pronounced "f"; thus, the Welsh word for river, afon, is pronounced with a "v" sound.

Development of placenames in Wales

Early inhabitants of Wales gave names first to noteworthy natural features, such as rivers, hills, mountains, harbours and shores. However, before the Roman occupation in the 1st century AD, there seems to have been little tradition in Wales of people coming together in organised settlements, and so little reason to give names to such places. The Roman towns which were established were generally fortified, and were given the generic name of castra, which in Welsh became caer, originally with the meaning of "fortified enclosure". Many of these continued as towns after the Romans left, and included Caernarfon

Caernarfon

Caernarfon is a Royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales, with a population of 9,611. It lies along the A487 road, on the east banks of the Menai Straits, opposite the Isle of Anglesey. The city of Bangor is to the northeast, while Snowdonia fringes Caernarfon to the east and southeast...

, Carmarthen

Carmarthen

Carmarthen is a community in, and the county town of, Carmarthenshire, Wales. It is sited on the River Towy north of its mouth at Carmarthen Bay. In 2001, the population was 14,648....

(Caerfyrddin), Caerleon

Caerleon

Caerleon is a suburban village and community, situated on the River Usk in the northern outskirts of the city of Newport, South Wales. Caerleon is a site of archaeological importance, being the site of a notable Roman legionary fortress, Isca Augusta, and an Iron Age hill fort...

, and Caerwent

Caerwent

Caerwent is a village and community in Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located about five miles west of Chepstow and eleven miles east of Newport, and was founded by the Romans as the market town of Venta Silurum, an important settlement of the Brythonic Silures tribe. The modern village is built...

.

Elsewhere, many villages and later towns took their names from natural features. For example, Abergele

Abergele

Abergele is a community and old Roman trading town, situated on the north coast of Wales between the holiday resorts of Colwyn Bay and Rhyl, in Conwy County Borough. Its northern suburb of Pensarn lies on the Irish Sea coast and is known for its beach, where it is claimed by some that a ghost ship...

refers to the "mouth of the [river] Gele", Harlech

Harlech

Harlech is a town and seaside resort in Gwynedd, within the historical boundaries of Merionethshire in northwest Wales. Lying on Tremadog Bay and within the Snowdonia National Park, it has a population of 1,952, of whom 59% speak Welsh...

means "fair rock", Rhuddlan

Rhuddlan

Rhuddlan is a town and community in the county of Denbighshire , in north Wales. It is situated to the south of the coastal town of Rhyl and overlooks the River Clwyd. The town gave its name to the Welsh district of Rhuddlan from 1974 to 1996...

"red bank", and Porthcawl

Porthcawl

Porthcawl is a town on the south coast of Wales in the county borough of Bridgend, 25 miles west of the capital city, Cardiff and 19 miles southeast of Swansea...

"harbour with sea-kale". Aberystwyth

Aberystwyth

Aberystwyth is a historic market town, administrative centre and holiday resort within Ceredigion, Wales. Often colloquially known as Aber, it is located at the confluence of the rivers Ystwyth and Rheidol....

means "mouth of the Ystwyth", a river a mile or so away from the town centre, and was apparently so named as a result of confusion by the English over the different castles in the area.

Many others took their name from churches established from the 5th century onwards, many of which use the prefix llan for "church". For example, the many examples of Llanfihangel refer to a church dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel; Llangefni

Llangefni

Llangefni is the county town of Anglesey in Wales and contains the principal offices of the Isle of Anglesey County Council. According to the United Kingdom Census 2001, the population of Llangefni was 4,662 people and it is the second largest settlement on the island...

refers to a "church on the [river] Cefni"; and Betws-y-Coed

Betws-y-Coed

Betws-y-Coed is a village and community in the Conwy valley in Conwy County Borough, Wales. It has a population of 534. The name Betws or Bettws is generally thought to be derived from the Anglo-Saxon Old English 'bed-hus' - i.e. a bead-house - a house of prayer, or oratory...

refers to a "prayer-house (betws) in the wood". The word llan is believed to have originally had the meaning of a family, or tribal, enclosure. It later came to mean a sacred enclosure for worship, and hence a church.

Over the centuries, Welsh placenames have been variously affected by social and economic changes in the country. The Industrial Revolution

Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...

saw the development of many new towns and villages, particularly in south Wales

South Wales

South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...

. Some of these used already existing place names, while others acquired new names. For example, the towns of Port Talbot

Port Talbot

Port Talbot is a town in Neath Port Talbot, Wales. It had a population of 35,633 in 2001.-History:Port Talbot grew out of the original small port and market town of Aberafan , which belonged to the medieval Lords of Afan. The area of the parish of Margam lying on the west bank of the lower Afan...

and Tredegar

Tredegar

Tredegar is a town situated on the Sirhowy River in the county borough of Blaenau Gwent, in south-east Wales. Located within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, it became an early centre of the Industrial Revolution in South Wales...

took the names of their main landowners and developers. In north Wales, Porthmadog

Porthmadog

Porthmadog , known locally as "Port", and historically rendered into English as Portmadoc, is a small coastal town and community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd, in Wales. Prior to the Local Government Act 1972 it was in the administrative county of Caernarfonshire. The town lies east of...

was originally named "Portmadoc" by its developer William Madocks

William Madocks

William Alexander Madocks was a landowner and Member of Parliament for the town of Boston in Lincolnshire from 1802 to 1820, and then for Chippenham in Wiltshire from 1820 to 1826...

, to commemorate both his own name and that of the possibly mythical sailor Madoc

Madoc

Madoc or Madog ab Owain Gwynedd was, according to folklore, a Welsh prince who sailed to America in 1170, over three hundred years before Christopher Columbus's voyage in 1492. According to the story, he was a son of Owain Gwynedd who took to the sea to flee internecine violence at home...

. An early example of a publicity stunt

Publicity stunt

A publicity stunt is a planned event designed to attract the public's attention to the event's organizers or their cause. Publicity stunts can be professionally organized or set up by amateurs...

saw the village of Llanfairpwllgwyngyll

Llanfairpwllgwyngyll

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is a large village and community on the island of Anglesey in Wales, situated on the Menai Strait next to the Britannia Bridge and across the strait from Bangor. This village has the longest place name in Europe and one of the longest...

("St Mary's church beside the hollow with white hazels") renaming itself in the 1860s with an even longer title, in an attempt to keep its railway station open.

Common elements of Welsh placenames thus include both words for topographical features and words reflecting human influence. Some of the most frequently encountered placename elements in Wales are shown in the table below. The Welsh version shown is the original, unmutated reference form.

Welsh	English
aber	estuary Estuary An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea.... , confluence
afon	river
allt	hillside, cliff
bach	small
bedd	grave
betws	chapel
blaen, blaenau	source(s) of stream, high land
bryn	hill
bwlch	gap in hills, pass
cae	field
caer	fort, fortified camp
capel	chapel
carn, carnedd	cairn Cairn Cairn is a term used mainly in the English-speaking world for a man-made pile of stones. It comes from the or . Cairns are found all over the world in uplands, on moorland, on mountaintops, near waterways and on sea cliffs, and also in barren desert and tundra areas... (a heap of stones)
cas, castell	castle
cefn	ridge
cei	quay
cil	corner, recess
clog, clogwyn	steep cliff
coed	forest
cors	bog
croes	cross
crug	heap
cwm	valley
cymer	confluence
din	hillfort
dinas	city
dol	meadow
dwfr, dŵr	water
dyffryn	valley
eglwys	church
erw	acre
ffin	boundary
ffordd	road
ffridd	wood
ffynnon	spring
garth	promontory Promontory Promontory may refer to:Promontory, a prominent mass of land which overlooks lower lying land or a body of waterPromontory, Utah, the location where the United States first Transcontinental Railroad was completed...
glan	riverbank
glyn	deep valley
gwaun	moorland
hafod	summer farmstead
hafn	ravine
hendre	winter farmstead
llan Llan place name element Llan or Lan is a common place name element in Brythonic languages such as Welsh, Cornish, Breton, Cumbric, and possibly Pictish. In Wales there are over 630 place names beginning with 'Llan', pronounced...	church, sacred enclosure
llannerch	clearing
llech	stone
llyn	lake
maen	stone
mawr	big
melin	mill
merthyr	burial place
moel	bare hill
môr	sea
morfa	marsh Marsh In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....
mynydd	mountain, moorland
nant	brook, small valley
newydd	new
ogof	cave
pandy	fulling Fulling Fulling or tucking or walking is a step in woolen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of cloth to eliminate oils, dirt, and other impurities, and making it thicker. The worker who does the job is a fuller, tucker, or walker... mill
pant	hollow, valley
parc	park
pen	head, end
penrhyn	promontory Promontory Promontory may refer to:Promontory, a prominent mass of land which overlooks lower lying land or a body of waterPromontory, Utah, the location where the United States first Transcontinental Railroad was completed...
pentre	homestead, village
pistyll	waterfall Waterfall A waterfall is a place where flowing water rapidly drops in elevation as it flows over a steep region or a cliff.-Formation:Waterfalls are commonly formed when a river is young. At these times the channel is often narrow and deep. When the river courses over resistant bedrock, erosion happens...
plas	hall, mansion
pont	bridge
porth	harbour, gateway
pwll	pool
rhaeadr	waterfall
rhiw	hill, slope
rhos	moor, promontory
rhyd	ford
sarn	causeway Causeway In modern usage, a causeway is a road or railway elevated, usually across a broad body of water or wetland.- Etymology :When first used, the word appeared in a form such as “causey way” making clear its derivation from the earlier form “causey”. This word seems to have come from the same source by...
sir	county, shire
stryd	street
tafarn	inn, tavern
traeth	beach
tref	village, town
tŷ	house
y, yr	the
ynys	island
ysbyty	hospital
ysgol	school
ystrad	valley

Relationship between Welsh and English placenames

In the majority of cases in Wales, the Welsh and English names for a place are identical, almost always because the Welsh name is used. So, for example, Aberystwyth

Aberystwyth

, Blaenau Ffestiniog

Blaenau Ffestiniog

Blaenau Ffestiniog is a town in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It has a population of 5,000, including Llan Ffestiniog, which makes it the third largest town in Gwynedd, behind Caernarfon & Porthmadog. Although the population reached 12,000 at the peak of the slate industry, the population fell due to...

, Bangor

Bangor, Gwynedd

Bangor is a city in Gwynedd, north west Wales, and one of the smallest cities in Britain. It is a university city with a population of 13,725 at the 2001 census, not including around 10,000 students at Bangor University. Including nearby Menai Bridge on Anglesey, which does not however form part of...

, Machynlleth

Machynlleth

Machynlleth is a market town in Powys, Wales. It is in the Dyfi Valley at the intersection of the A487 and the A489 roads.Machynlleth was the seat of Owain Glyndŵr's Welsh Parliament in 1404, and as such claims to be the "ancient capital of Wales". However, it has never held any official...

and Llandudno

Llandudno

Llandudno is a seaside resort and town in Conwy County Borough, Wales. In the 2001 UK census it had a population of 20,090 including that of Penrhyn Bay and Penrhynside, which are within the Llandudno Community...

all have the same spelling in Welsh and English, although it is also often the case that most English people do not pronounce the name in the same way as the Welsh.

There are also many instances where the Welsh and English names are very similar, both in spelling and pronunciation. Examples include Caerphilly

Caerphilly

Caerphilly is a town in the county borough of Caerphilly, south Wales, located at the southern end of the Rhymney Valley, with a population of approximately 31,000. It is a commuter town of Cardiff and Newport, which are located some 7.5 miles and 12 miles away, respectively...

(Caerffili), Raglan

Raglan, Monmouthshire

Raglan is a village in Monmouthshire, south east Wales, United Kingdom. It is located some 9 miles south-west of Monmouth, midway between Monmouth and Abergavenny on the A40 road very near to the junction with the A449 road...

(Rhaglan), Treorchy

Treorchy

Treorchy is a village, although it used to be and still has characteristics of a town, in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, lying in the Rhondda Fawr valley...

(Treorci), Barry (Y Barri) and Merthyr Tydfil

Merthyr Tydfil

Merthyr Tydfil is a town in Wales, with a population of about 30,000. Although once the largest town in Wales, it is now ranked as the 15th largest urban area in Wales. It also gives its name to a county borough, which has a population of around 55,000. It is located in the historic county of...

(Merthyr Tudful). In most of these cases, English usage adopted and anglicised

Anglicisation

Anglicisation, or anglicization , is the process of converting verbal or written elements of any other language into a form that is more comprehensible to an English speaker, or, more generally, of altering something such that it becomes English in form or character.The term most often refers to...

the Welsh name, although there are some cases, especially close to the English border, where the English name was adopted by the Welsh. Examples include Flint

Flint, Flintshire

Flint is a town in Flintshire, North Wales, lying on the estuary of the River Dee. It was the county town of the historic county of Flintshire and today is the third largest town in Flintshire. According to the 2001 Census the population of the community of Flint was 12,804...

(Y Fflint) and Wrexham

Wrexham

Wrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located in the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England...

(Wrecsam) in north east Wales, and Caldicot

Caldicot, Monmouthshire

Caldicot is a small town in Monmouthshire, southeast Wales, located between Chepstow and Newport, just off the busy M4 / M48 motorway corridor. The site adjoins the Caldicot Levels, on the north side of the Severn estuary. Caldicot has easy access by motorway and rail to Cardiff, and across the...

(Cil-y-coed) in south east Wales. A related case is the Norman French foundation of Beaumaris (Biwmares). In a few cases, such as Prestatyn

Prestatyn

Prestatyn is a seaside resort, town and community in Denbighshire, North Wales. It is located on the Irish Sea coast, to the east of Rhyl. At the 2001 Census, Prestatyn had a population of 18,496.-Prehistory:...

(originally "priest's town", which elsewhere became "Preston") and Mostyn

Mostyn

Mostyn is a small village in Flintshire, North Wales, lying on the estuary of the River Dee, and located near the town of Holywell.Mostyn once served as a port from which ferries used to sail to Dublin on the Liverpool-Dublin route...

, the original name was wholly English but has gradually taken on a Welsh appearance. In one or two others, such as Caergwrle

Caergwrle

Caergwrle is a village in the county of Flintshire, in north east Wales. Approximately 5–6 miles from Wrexham and situated on the A541 road, it is contiguous with the village of Abermorddu and closely related to the village of Hope . The village lies on the River Alyn and sits at the base of Hope...

, the name combines Welsh (caer) and English elements - the village was originally the English settlement of Corley.

In some cases, the spelling formerly used in English has, over the past few decades, no longer become accepted — examples include Caernarfon

Caernarfon

(formerly, in English, Ca(e)rnarvon), Conwy

Conwy

Conwy is a walled market town and community in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales. The town, which faces Deganwy across the River Conwy, formerly lay in Gwynedd and prior to that in Caernarfonshire. Conwy has a population of 14,208...

(formerly Conway), and Llanelli

Llanelli

Llanelli , the largest town in both the county of Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed , Wales, sits on the Loughor estuary on the West Wales coast, approximately west-north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarthen. The town is famous for its proud rugby...

(formerly Llanelly). Most of these examples are in predominantly Welsh-speaking areas of Wales. There are also places where there are ongoing disagreements over whether the Welsh spelling should be used exclusively or not, such as Criccieth

Criccieth

Criccieth is a town and community on Cardigan Bay, in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd in Wales. The town lies west of Porthmadog, east of Pwllheli and south of Caernarfon. It has a population of 1,826....

(Cricieth), Rhayader

Rhayader

Rhayader is a market town and community in Powys, Mid Wales. It has a population of 2,075, and is the first town on the banks of the River Wye, from its source on the Plynlimon range of the Cambrian Mountains....

(Rhaeadr), and Ruthin

Ruthin

Ruthin is a community and the county town of Denbighshire in north Wales. Located around a hill in the southern part of the Vale of Clwyd - the older part of the town, the castle and Saint Peter's Square are located on top of the hill, while many newer parts of the town are on the floodplain of...

(Rhuthun).

In other cases, the Welsh and English names clearly share the same original form, but spellings and pronunciation have diverged over the years. One obvious example is Cardiff

Cardiff

Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...

(Caerdydd), where it is the English spelling and pronunciation rather than the Welsh which most closely reflects the original name of Caer-Dyf ("fort on the [river] Taff"). Some examples of the anglicisation

Anglicisation

of placenames are the towns of Denbigh

Denbigh

Denbigh is a market town and community in Denbighshire, Wales. Before 1888, it was the county town of Denbighshire. Denbigh lies 8 miles to the north west of Ruthin and to the south of St Asaph. It is about 13 miles from the seaside resort of Rhyl. The town grew around the glove-making industry...

and Tenby

Tenby

Tenby is a walled seaside town in Pembrokeshire, South West Wales, lying on Carmarthen Bay.Notable features of Tenby include of sandy beaches; the 13th century medieval town walls, including the Five Arches barbican gatehouse ; 15th century St...

, both derived from the Welsh name Dinbych ("little fort"); Pembroke

Pembroke, Pembrokeshire

Pembroke is an historic settlement and former county town of Pembrokeshire in west Wales. The town and the county derive their name from that of the cantref of Penfro: Pen = "head" or "end", and bro = "region", "country", "land", and so it means essentially "Land's End".-History:The main point of...

(from Penfro, literally "land's end"); Lampeter

Lampeter

Lampeter is a town in Ceredigion, South West Wales, lying at the confluence of the River Teifi and the Afon Dulas.-Demographics:At the 2001 National Census, the population was 2894. Lampeter is therefore the smallest university town in both Wales and the United Kingdom...

(from Llanbedr, in full Llanbedr Pont Steffan); Skenfrith

Skenfrith

Skenfrith is a small village in Monmouthshire, south-east Wales, in the United Kingdom. It is located on the River Monnow, close to the border between Wales and England, about 6 miles north-west of Monmouth.- History and amenities :...

(from Ynysgynwraidd); and Barmouth

Barmouth

Barmouth ; Y Bermo ) is a town in the county of Gwynedd, north-western Wales, lying on the estuary of the River Mawddach and Cardigan Bay.The town is served by Barmouth railway station.- History :...

(in modern Welsh Y Bermo, but originally Aber-mawdd, meaning "mouth of the [river] Mawdd(ach))".

Finally, there are a number of places, listed in the table below, where the English and Welsh names have, or may appear to have, different origins. These have developed for a variety of reasons. Brecon

Brecon

Brecon is a long-established market town and community in southern Powys, Mid Wales, with a population of 7,901. It was the county town of the historic county of Brecknockshire; although its role as such was eclipsed with the formation of Powys, it remains an important local centre...

and Cardigan

Cardigan, Ceredigion

Cardigan is a town in the county of Ceredigion in Mid Wales. It lies on the estuary of the River Teifi at the point where Ceredigion meets Pembrokeshire. It was the county town of the pre-1974 county of Cardiganshire. It is the second largest town in Ceredigion. The town's population was 4,203...

both took their English names from their surrounding historic kingdoms, but their Welsh names from local rivers; almost the reverse process occurred at Usk

Usk

Usk is a small town in Monmouthshire, Wales, situated 10 miles northeast of Newport.The River Usk flows through the town and is spanned by an ancient, arched stone bridge at the western entrance to the town. A castle above the town overlooks the ancient Anglo-Welsh border crossing - the river can...

. Names given by Norse settlers, such as Swansea

Swansea

Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...

, Fishguard

Fishguard

Fishguard is a coastal town in Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales, with a population of 3,300 . The community of Fishguard and Goodwick had a population of 5043 at the 2001 census....

and Anglesey

Anglesey

Anglesey , also known by its Welsh name Ynys Môn , is an island and, as Isle of Anglesey, a county off the north west coast of Wales...

, tended to be adopted in English usage but not by the Welsh. Again, there are exceptions such as the island of Skomer

Skomer

Skomer is a 2.92 km² island off the coast of southwest Wales, one of a chain lying within a kilometre off the Pembrokeshire coast and separated from the mainland by the treacherous waters of Jack Sound....

(from Norse words meaning "cloven island"). English names for the Great Orme

Great Orme

The Great Orme is a prominent limestone headland on the north coast of Wales situated in Llandudno. It is referred to as Cyngreawdr Fynydd in a poem by the 12th century poet Gwalchmai ap Meilyr...

and Worm's Head both derive from the Norse word orm, referring to their shape resembling a serpent's head.

Places in Wales where the Welsh and English placenames appear to differ

English name	Welsh name	Notes
Anglesey Anglesey Anglesey , also known by its Welsh name Ynys Môn , is an island and, as Isle of Anglesey, a county off the north west coast of Wales...	Ynys Môn	English name derived from Norse meaning "Ongull's island", Welsh name related to (but probably predated) Roman Latin Mona
Bangor-on-Dee Bangor-on-Dee Bangor-on-Dee is a local government community, the lowest tier of local government, part of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is a village in the ancient district of Maelor in Wales, situated on the banks of the River Dee...	Bangor Is-coed	English name name refers to the village's proximity to the River Dee River Dee, Wales The River Dee is a long river in the United Kingdom. It travels through Wales and England and also forms part of the border between the two countries.... . Welsh name means "Bangor (i.e. a settlement within a wattle fence) below the wood/trees"
Bardsey Bardsey Island Bardsey Island , the legendary "Island of 20,000 saints", lies off the Llŷn Peninsula in the Welsh county of Gwynedd. The Welsh name means "The Island in the Currents", although its English name refers to the "Island of the Bards", or possibly the island of the Viking chieftan, "Barda". It is ...	Ynys Enlli	English name derived from Norse meaning "Bard's island" ("Bard" probably being a person's name), Welsh name probably originally Ynys Fenlli, "Benlli's island".
Blackwood	Coed-duon	Both English and Welsh names mean "black woodland"
Brecon Brecon Brecon is a long-established market town and community in southern Powys, Mid Wales, with a population of 7,901. It was the county town of the historic county of Brecknockshire; although its role as such was eclipsed with the formation of Powys, it remains an important local centre...	Aberhonddu	English name derived from Brycheiniog Brycheiniog Brycheiniog was a small independent petty kingdom in South Wales in the Early Middle Ages. It often acted as a buffer state between England to the east and the powerful south Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth to the west. It was conquered and pacified by the Normans between 1088 and 1095, though it... , Welsh from local river Honddu
Bridgend Bridgend Bridgend is a town in the Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of the capital, Cardiff. The river crossed by the original bridge, which gave the town its name, is the River Ogmore but the River Ewenny also passes to the south of the town...	Pen-y-bont (ar Ogwr)	Both English and Welsh names mean "end of the bridge"
Builth (Wells) Builth Wells Builth Wells is a town in the county of Powys, within the historic boundaries of Brecknockshire, mid Wales, lying at the confluence of the River Wye and the River Irfon, in the Welsh of the Wye Valley. It has a population of 2,352....	Llanfair-ym-Muallt	Both English and Welsh names derive from the original Welsh Buellt, meaning "cow pasture", with the Welsh name mutating with the additional reference to "St Mary's church"
Cardigan Cardigan, Ceredigion Cardigan is a town in the county of Ceredigion in Mid Wales. It lies on the estuary of the River Teifi at the point where Ceredigion meets Pembrokeshire. It was the county town of the pre-1974 county of Cardiganshire. It is the second largest town in Ceredigion. The town's population was 4,203...	Aberteifi	English name derived from Ceredigion Ceredigion Ceredigion is a county and former kingdom in mid-west Wales. As Cardiganshire , it was created in 1282, and was reconstituted as a county under that name in 1996, reverting to Ceredigion a day later... , Welsh from local river Teifi
Chepstow Chepstow Chepstow is a town in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the River Wye, close to its confluence with the River Severn, and close to the western end of the Severn Bridge on the M48 motorway...	Cas-gwent	English name meaning "place with market", Welsh meaning "castle of Gwent"
Chirk Chirk Chirk is a small town and local government community, the lowest tier of local government, part of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It has a population of over 4,000....	Y Waun	English name derived from Norse "Kirk", which at some point became mixed with the modern English translation "Church," Welsh meaning "the heath"
Cowbridge Cowbridge Cowbridge is a market town in the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales, approximately west of Cardiff. Cowbridge is twinned with Clisson in the Loire-Atlantique department in northwestern France.-Roman times:...	Y Bont-faen	English name meaning "bridge used by cows", Welsh meaning "the stone bridge"
Fishguard Fishguard Fishguard is a coastal town in Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales, with a population of 3,300 . The community of Fishguard and Goodwick had a population of 5043 at the 2001 census....	Abergwaun	English name derived from Norse meaning "fish yard", Welsh from local river Gwaun
Hawarden Hawarden Hawarden is a village in Flintshire, North Wales. Hawarden forms part of the Deeside conurbation on the Welsh/English border. At the 2001 Census, the population of Hawarden Ward was 1,858...	Penarlâg	English name meaning "high enclosure", Welsh meaning "high ground rich in cattle"
Hay (-on-Wye) Hay-on-Wye Hay-on-Wye , often described as "the town of books", is a small market town and community in Powys, Wales.-Location:The town lies on the east bank of the River Wye and is within the Brecon Beacons National Park, just north of the Black Mountains...	Y Gelli	Both English and Welsh names mean "enclosed forest Forest A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed... "
Holyhead Holyhead Holyhead is the largest town in the county of Anglesey in the North Wales. It is also a major port adjacent to the Irish Sea serving Ireland....	Caergybi	English name meaning "holy headland", Welsh meaning "St. Cybi's fort"
Knighton	Tref-y-clawdd	English name meaning "town of the knights", Welsh meaning "town beside [Offa's] dyke"
Menai Bridge Menai Bridge Menai Bridge is a small town and community on the Isle of Anglesey in north Wales. It overlooks the Menai Strait and lies by the Menai Suspension Bridge, built in 1826 by Thomas Telford...	Porthaethwy	English name applied after bridge over Menai Strait Menai Strait The Menai Strait is a narrow stretch of shallow tidal water about long, which separates the island of Anglesey from the mainland of Wales.The strait is bridged in two places - the main A5 road is carried over the strait by Thomas Telford's elegant iron suspension bridge, the first of its kind,... opened in 1826, Welsh meaning "ferry of Daethwy people"
Milford (Haven) Milford Haven Milford Haven is a town and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is situated on the north side of the Milford Haven Waterway, a natural harbour used as a port since the Middle Ages. The town was founded in 1790 on the north side of the Waterway, from which it takes its name...	Aberdaugleddau	English name derived from Norse meaning "sandy inlet", Welsh from local river estuary Daugleddau (i.e. the two rivers Cleddau)
Mold Mold, Flintshire Mold is a town in Flintshire, North Wales, on the River Alyn. It is the administrative seat of Flintshire County Council, and was also the county town of Clwyd from 1974 to 1996...	Yr Wyddgrug	English name from Norman French "mont hault" or "high hill", Welsh meaning "the mound with burial cairn"
Monmouth Monmouth Monmouth is a town in southeast Wales and traditional county town of the historic county of Monmouthshire. It is situated close to the border with England, where the River Monnow meets the River Wye with bridges over both....	Trefynwy	Both names derive from the local river Mynwy or Monnow, the English name meaning "mouth of the Monnow" and the Welsh meaning "town on the Mynwy", the initial m mutating to f
Montgomery Montgomery, Powys The historic county town of Montgomery in Powys, Wales lies just three miles from the English border in the Welsh Marches. It is best known for its castle, Montgomery Castle, begun in 1223, and its parish church, begun in 1227. However its origins go back much further, as seen by the Celtic Iron...	Trefaldwyn	English name from that of Norman lord who built castle, Welsh meaning "Baldwin's town"
Mountain Ash	Aberpennar	English name from inn around which industrial development took place, Welsh from local river Pennar
Neath Neath Neath is a town and community situated in the principal area of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, UK with a population of approximately 45,898 in 2001...	Castell-nedd	English name from the river Neath, an anglicised version of Nedd; Welsh meaning "fort of (the river) Neath"
Newport Newport Newport is a city and unitary authority area in Wales. Standing on the banks of the River Usk, it is located about east of Cardiff and is the largest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent... (-on-Usk)	Casnewydd (-ar-wysg)	English name meaning "new borough", Welsh meaning "new castle (on the river Usk)"
Newport, Pembrokeshire Newport, Pembrokeshire Newport is a town in Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales, lying on the River Nevern in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park.- History :The town was founded by the Norman William FitzMartin about 1197...	Trefdraeth	English name meaning "new borough", Welsh meaning "town by the shore"
New Radnor New Radnor New Radnor is a village in Powys, mid Wales. It was the original county town of Radnorshire. The population today is around 400, a higher than normal proportion of which are pensioners...	Maesyfed	English name meaning "red bank" originally applied to Old Radnor Old Radnor Old Radnor is a tiny town in Radnorshire , Wales.-Notes:... , Welsh meaning "Hyfaidd's field"
Newtown	Y Drenewydd	Both English and Welsh names mean "(the) new town"
Presteigne Presteigne Presteigne is a town and community in Powys, Wales. It was the county town of the historic county of Radnorshire, and is in the Diocese of Hereford...	Llanandras	English name meaning "house of priests", Welsh meaning "St. Andreas' church"
Snowdon Snowdon Snowdon is the highest mountain in Wales, at an altitude of above sea level, and the highest point in the British Isles outside Scotland. It is located in Snowdonia National Park in Gwynedd, and has been described as "probably the busiest mountain in Britain"...	Yr Wyddfa	English name meaning "snowy hill", Welsh meaning "the burial mound". The Welsh name for Snowdonia, attested since the Middle Ages, is Eryri, meaning "highlands" or "upland" - the traditional interpretation as "place of the eagles" (eryr, "eagle") has been shown to be etymologically incorrect
St. Asaph	Llanelwy	English name from dedication of cathedral, Welsh meaning "church on the river Elwy"
Swansea Swansea Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...	Abertawe	English name derived from Norse meaning "Sveyn's island", Welsh from local river Tawe
Usk Usk Usk is a small town in Monmouthshire, Wales, situated 10 miles northeast of Newport.The River Usk flows through the town and is spanned by an ancient, arched stone bridge at the western entrance to the town. A castle above the town overlooks the ancient Anglo-Welsh border crossing - the river can...	Brynbuga	English name from local river Usk (originally Welsh Wysg), Welsh meaning "Buga's hill"
Welshpool Welshpool Welshpool is a town in Powys, Wales, or ancient county Montgomeryshire, from the Wales-England border. The town is low-lying on the River Severn; the Welsh language name Y Trallwng literally meaning 'the marshy or sinking land'...	Y Trallwng	Both English and Welsh names mean "(the) boggy area", with the English name adding "Welsh", possibly to distinguish it from Poole Poole Poole is a large coastal town and seaport in the county of Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester, and Bournemouth adjoins Poole to the east. The Borough of Poole was made a unitary authority in 1997, gaining administrative independence from Dorset County Council... in Dorset.

Official policy on placenames in Wales

The naming of places in Wales can be a matter of dispute and uncertainty. In some cases there is an issue of whether both the Welsh and English names should be used, or only one, and which should be given priority. In other cases it is because usage and style has changed over the years, and there is debate over which form or spelling of a placename should be used. Both the Welsh Government and the Ordnance Survey

Ordnance Survey

Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...

have policies on standardising placenames, drawing on advice from the Welsh Language Board

Welsh Language Board

The Welsh Language Board is a statutory body set up by the UK Government as part of the Welsh Language Act 1993. It is now an Assembly Sponsored Public Body...

and the Place-name Research Centre at the University of Wales, Bangor.

The policy of the Welsh Government on placenames as shown on road signs within its jurisdiction is set out in its Welsh Language Scheme. This states: "The signs for which we are responsible (mostly motorway and trunk road signs) will be bilingual. Signs which are in English only at the moment will be made bilingual when they are replaced.... When both languages are included on one sign with one language above the other, the order in which the languages appear will follow the practice adopted by the local authority where the sign is located." The latter proviso applies because local authorities have discretion over the forms used on local highway signs. In the predominantly Welsh-speaking areas of Wales, the Welsh form of the name is usually given first; in other areas, the English name is usually given first.

The guidance also states: "Signs containing place names in England will contain the Welsh and English versions of the name....". This proviso has led to new motorway signs in south Wales showing the names Llundain and Bryste as well as their English-language names, London and Bristol.

Welsh names for other places in Britain and Ireland

The modern Welsh language contains names for many towns and other geographical features across Britain and Ireland. In some cases, these derive from the Brythonic names which were used during or before the Roman occupation: for example, Llundain (London), Cernyw (Cornwall), Dyfnaint (Devon

Devon

), and Ebrauc/Efrog (York

York

York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...

). The origin of the modern Welsh name for England

England

itself, Lloegr ɬɔiɡr, is disputed, but one widely believed theory — which, however, has no etymological foundation — is that it derives from purportedly poetic words meaning "lost land", and was originally applied to areas of Mercia

Mercia

Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...

after the Saxon conquest before being applied to the whole of England.

Many English county towns, founded as Roman castra and now having the English suffix "-c(h)ester", also have Welsh names, in most cases using the prefix Caer-. Examples include Caer or Caerlleon (for Chester

Chester

Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...

), Caerloyw (Gloucester

Gloucester

Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....

), Caerwrangon (Worcester

Worcester

The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...

), Caergrawnt (Cambridge

Cambridge

The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...

), and Caerwynt (Winchester

Winchester

Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...

). In some other cases, Welsh names are translations of the English name, often influenced by the Welsh poetic tradition — for example, Rhydychen (literally, "oxen ford") for Oxford

Oxford

The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

, and Gwlad-yr-haf ("land of summer") for Somerset

Somerset

. Some English cities which have developed more recently, but with which Welsh people have had commercial links through trading or other economic associations such as through population migration, have developed Welsh forms of their English names. Examples are Bryste (Bristol) and Lerpwl (Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

), although Liverpool is dubious given that there is a Welsh derivation possible from "Y Llif" a name for the Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

and meaning "the flood" together with "pwll" which represents the word Pool in English place names and is generally accepted as of Brythonic origin.

A final set of Welsh placenames are those for settlements in England which lie close to the modern border with Wales. In some cases, such as Ross-on-Wye

Ross-on-Wye

Ross-on-Wye is a small market town with a population of 10,089 in southeastern Herefordshire, England, located on the River Wye, and on the northern edge of the Forest of Dean.-History:...

(Rhosan-ar-Wy) and probably Leominster

Leominster

Leominster is a market town in Herefordshire, England, located approximately north of the city of Hereford and south of Ludlow, at...

(Llanllieni), the English name seems to have derived from the Welsh name. In other cases, such as Llwydlo (Ludlow

Ludlow

Ludlow is a market town in Shropshire, England close to the Welsh border and in the Welsh Marches. It lies within a bend of the River Teme, on its eastern bank, forming an area of and centred on a small hill. Atop this hill is the site of Ludlow Castle and the market place...

) and Henffordd (Hereford

Hereford

Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, southwest of Worcester, and northwest of Gloucester...

), the Welsh name derived from the English name of the settlement. The Welsh name for Shrewsbury

Shrewsbury

Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council...

, Yr Amwythig, means "the fort in scrubland", which is one theory of the origin of the English name. Oswestry

Oswestry

Oswestry is a town and civil parish in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5, A483, and A495 roads....

("Oswald's tree") is in Welsh Croesoswallt ("Oswald's cross").

External links

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History

Language characteristics

Development of placenames in Wales

Relationship between Welsh and English placenames

Places in Wales where the Welsh and English placenames appear to differ

Official policy on placenames in Wales

Welsh names for other places in Britain and Ireland

See also

External links