Do you have roots in Wales or other Celtic nations? Surnames in these places have an interesting history different from that of surnames in other parts of the world. This video explains the origins of Welsh surnames, why there are so few, the role surnames play in society, and why people in the past centuries went about picking up a surname.


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Video Contents

00:00 Introduction
00:50 Hereditary Surnames
01:58 Patronymic Naming
03:10 Why the Differences?
03:49 State Governance
07:00 Blending Systems
08:39 Narrowing Pool of Names
12:21 When was the Change?
14:04 What Name Becomes a Surname
16:29 Outro


Image Copyright
Public Domain Images: License: http://creativecommons.org/publicdoma...
Evan Davies, Bu Farw, p. 157
• http://hdl.handle.net/10107/2416937'>http://hdl.handle.net/10107/2416937
UK Map
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Theakston & Davies 1913 Some Family Records and Pedigrees of the Lloyds
• https://archive.org/details/somefamil...
Llewelyn ap Gruffudd
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Hywel Dda and Law Code Pages
• http://hdl.handle.net/10107/4400109
Welsh Flag
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
English Flag
• https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...
William the Conqueror Norman Conquest 1066
• http://hdl.handle.net/10107/4673901
Richard II 1851
• http://hdl.handle.net/10107/4673437
Henry VIII
• http://hdl.handle.net/10107/4672580
Remains Concerning Britain
• https://www.google.ca/books/edition/R...
Evan Davies 1846 Bu Farw
• http://hdl.handle.net/10107/2416937'>http://hdl.handle.net/10107/2416937
Reverend Gentleman
• http://hdl.handle.net/10107/4702844
Smithy 1880
• http://hdl.handle.net/10107/4702715
Bible Welsh 1588
• http://hdl.handle.net/10107/4701320
Nobility Dolaucothi 1870
• http://hdl.handle.net/10107/4968883
Derry Ormond 1872
• https://archive.org/details/annalsant...
David Davis, Castellhywel Photo
• http://hdl.handle.net/10107/4673253

Other Images:

Nilfanion, 2011. Relief map of Wales, UK. Ordnance Survey. OpenData
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
• License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
• Counties outlined and highlighted
English Flag
• https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...
• public ownership
Welsh Flag
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
• Out of copyright/public ownership

St. John the Baptist’s Church, Hatherleigh
• https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/80166
• Attribution: Grant Sherman / St John the Baptist's Church, Hatherleigh / CC BYSA 2.0
• License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...

Ancestry Images: For use as necessary for professional family history research.

All other images copyright to Davina Davies, Maxine Davies, GenealCymru, and Raymond O’Connor.