English Equivalents

Welsh names and their transliteration to English equivalents can give the genealogists nightmares.  Taking an English surname and tracing it back to the Welsh language can be difficult.  The words are distinctly different, and often in appearance not even close.  For example lets take the surname "David" as spelled in the English.

The name "David" first appears in the Jewish literature around 900 BC.  In the book of I Samuel 16:13 it is recorded: "...and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward."  In the Hebrew the name comes from the word for "short", but in the same book chapter 16:12 it describes David: "...Now he was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance."  Hum... red headed and blue eyes maybe?  At any rate, the name was adopted by the early Celtic Christians and became a common name among the Welsh.

In the Welsh the name is written in a variety of ways.  The most common is "Dafydd" which certainly appears to be similar to the English spelling.  This also might be written "Davydd" where the "f" and "v" are frequently exchanged for one another.  Now you might not recognize the following : 1) Dai, 2) Dei, 3) Delo, and 4) Dewi which all are spellings of the name David.  How about that...Welsh names to the English Equivalent.

Welsh Genealogical Terms (part 3) M - Z

This is the third post on the topic of Welsh terms. They are abstracted from Dwnn as described in the first two previous posts.  There is no letter "Z" in the Welsh alphabet.

Mab, ab, ap = Son

Mam, vam = Mother

Marchog, varchog, pl. marchogion, varchogion = Knight

Marw, varw = Died, Dead

Marw heb etivedd = Died without issue

Marw heb etivedd yn byw ar ol = Died without issue surviving

Meibion, veibion = Sons

Merch, verched = Daughters

Modryb = Aunt

Nai, pl. neiaint = Nephew

Nith = Niece

Pais, bais = Coat of Arms

Parchedig = Reverend

Tad, dad = Father

Wedi priodi = Married

Wyr = Grandson, or grand-daughter

Yn byw = Living

Ysgwier = Esquire

Taken from Heraldic Visitations of Wales and Part of The Marches, Lewys Dwnn, Vol. I, p. xxxii, 1846.