Welsh Place Names

The following is a list of Welsh Place Names that have been featured in Auntie’s Travels.

Aber: Can have a number of meanings based upon its geographical position. Often refers to the mouth or estuary of a river, but can also mean a small river or a confluence of two rivers.

Aberafan: refers to the Afon (River) Afan. The origin of Afon is uncertain, and may be very old, dating to the original Breton language spoken in Briton. The river’s name is old and there is no definite agreement on its origin. It may derive from “a Ann” meaning river in the original language. Another suggestion is that it is from “A-Ban” meaning “from the heights” due to its comparatively quick descent from hills to the sea.

Abergwaun: Mouth of the Afon Gwaun which enters the harbour at Abergwaun, or Lower Fishguard.

Afon: River. The etymology of the Welsh word afon, which means “river,” traces back through several linguistic stages:
MiddleWelsh: The word afon is derived from the Middle Welsh afon.
Proto-Brythonic: It comes from the Proto-Brythonic aβon.
Proto-Celtic: The term traces further back to Proto-Celtic abū.
Proto-Indo-European: Ultimately, it originates from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂ep-h₃ōn-, which is derived from h₂ep- meaning “body of water”.
This etymological lineage highlights the ancient and consistent use of the term across different linguistic stages to denote a body of water, specifically a river, in the Welsh language.

Bach: Small

Bedd: Grave

Blaenavon: literally means “front of the river” or loosely “river’s source” 

Brianne:  possibly of the mountains

Bychan: translates to little or small in Welsh, coming from “bach.”

Cadair: Chair

Caerleon: City of the Legion. Towns beginning with “Caer” are often associated with Roman occupation.

Carreg: Rock, Stone

Carn (Garn): Cairn

Castell: Castle

Castell Caerreg Cennen: The castle on the rock above the (river) Cennen.

Cennen: Name of a river flowing from the Brecon Beacons through Carmarthenshire.

Coch: Red

Cors (Gors): Bog

Crug: Barrow, cairn or hillock.

Cwm: Valley

Cwm yr Eglwys: Church valley, or Church in the Valley.

Defynnog: Combining a personal name Dyfwn and the suffix og the name means ‘the territory belonging to Dyfwn’.

Dinas: A fort or camp

Dir: mutation from Tir means land

Ddu/Du: Black, dark

Fach: from Bach – small, little.

Faes: Field, Meadow. Mutated form of Maes

Fawr: from Mawr – large, big

Filiast: Greyhound

Ffordd: Road.

Ffos: Ditch

Ffynnon: Well

Fynach: Mutation of Mynach, meaning monk.

Garn: Carn

Gelli: Grove

Glan: bank, shore

Glyder: from the Welsh word “Gludair”, meaning a heap of stones

Goedog:  Wooded, from Coed.

Garth: mountain ridge, promontory

Gwaelod: Bottom, lower.

Gwaun: Marsh, high and level wet moorland. Also a river name, see Abergwaun

Gwern: Alder tree.

Hafod: Summer dwelling. The Welsh place-name Hafod (also historically spelled Havod) is a descriptive pastoral term rooted firmly in traditional Welsh land-use. It is made up of Haf (Welsh): summer and Bod (Welsh): dwelling, abode, settlement. In medieval and early modern Wales, a hafod was a seasonal upland farm or hut used during the summer months as part of the transhumance system (hafod–hendre). Hendre was the permanent winter homestead in the lowlands and Hafod was the temporary summer residence in higher pasture. Families moved livestock—especially cattle—to upland grazing in summer, living at the hafod while exploiting fresh pasture.

Harlech: Beautiful rock

Idris: Idris was a giant who used a mountain as his seat – Cadair Idris

Isaf: Lower

Laugharne: The name Laugharne has a rich and somewhat debated etymology, shaped by both Welsh and Norman influences over the centuries. The Welsh name for Laugharne is Talacharn (sometimes spelled Talacharn-y-Mor), which can be broken down into: “Tal” meaning “end” or “brow” (often referring to a hill or a high place), and “Acharn”, which is less certain, but may relate to an old personal or place name—or possibly a lost Welsh word. So “Talacharn” may roughly mean something like “the hill at Acharn” or “the end/brow of Acharn.” However, some interpretations lean toward “Tal y Charn”, which could mean “end of the (rocky) cairn” or “brow of the cairn”, suggesting a geographic or topographic origin referring to a stone monument or rocky feature. The name Laugharne is an anglicized form of the Welsh name, likely influenced by Norman scribes and later English administrative documents. Over the centuries, it appeared in various forms, including “Lacharn” (12th century), “Talacharn” (in medieval Welsh texts), and eventually “Laugharne”, pronounced locally as “Larn” (rhyming with “barn”).

Llan: A llan usually refers to a church, or perhaps originally to the the enclosed land around the church where Christian converts had settled. Mostly used as a prefix e.g. Llanbedrog where the second name often, but not always, refers to an individual or saint. In this case Saint Pedrog.

Llanerch: glade or clearing. 

Llanerch-y-medd: Llanerch meaning clearing, glade and Medd from mead

Llech:  a flat stone

Llechwedd: Hillside, slope

Llyn: Lake

Lleyn: land of the Lageni (tribe)

Llundain: London

Llwyd : grey, domes times anglicised to Lloyd.

Maen: Stone, rock

Maes: Field, meadow.

Maentwrog: Twrog’s stone. Twrog was a mythological giant.

Mawr (Fawr): Large, big.

Melin: mill

Moel: Bare hill

Moel Hebog: Bare hill of the hawk.

Morfa: The term “Morfa” in Welsh means estuary or wetland. It is often used to refer to areas near bodies of water, particularly coastal regions. The root “mor” again connects to the meaning of sea.

Mynach (Fynach): Monk.

Mynydd: means “mountain” or “large hill.” It is derived from the Middle Welsh “mynyð,” which in turn comes from the Proto-Brythonic “mönɨð,” and ultimately from the Proto-Celtic “*moniyos,” which is also related to the Cornish “menydh” and Breton “menez.” This Proto-Celtic root is linked to the Proto-Indo-European “men-,” meaning “to tower, stand out,” which is also the origin of the Latin “mōns,” meaning “mountain”.

Nant: The term “Nant” in Welsh comes from the Proto-Brythonic word “nant,” which is derived from the Proto-Celtic “nantos” or “nantus,” meaning stream or valley.

Pandy: fulling mill. Fulling is a step in woollen cloth making which involves cleansing the cloth to eliminate oils, dirt, and other impurities.

Penderyn: Bird’s Head. Pen = Head. Deryn = abbreviation of aderyn – bird.

Penmon: Pen (which can mean “head”, “end” or “promontory”) and Môn, which is the Welsh word for Anglesey.

Pontarfynach: Bridge of the monks, or Monk Bridge.

Porth: Port, gate

Porthmadog: Madog’s port. Named after Madock, who developed the area.

Pysgotwr: Fisherman

Rhandirmwyn: Land of minerals.

Rhos: Heath; moor.

Tir: land

Tomen: a motte (old castle); mound; heap

Traeth: Beach

Trawsfynydd: across (the) mountain

Tref (Dref):  The Welsh place-name element Tref is one of the most important and widespread terms in Welsh toponymy, strongly associated with settlement, landholding, and social organisation. 

• Tref (Welsh): homestead, farmstead, settlement, township

• Derived from Proto-Brythonic treβ, meaning dwelling, settlement

• Cognate with Cornish tre and Breton trev / treff

In its earliest sense, tref referred not to a town in the modern sense, but to a single farm, estate, or nucleated group of homesteads. Over time, some trefi expanded into villages or towns, while many remained rural farmsteads.

Trwyn Du: Black nose

Tryfan: Three headed. From Tri – Three and Fan – hill, peak.

Twmpath: mound, small hill

Twyn: hillock

Uchaf: Upper

Ysbyty: The term “Ysbyty” originates from the Latin word “Hospitium,” which translates to “hospice” or “hostel.” This is thought to be a reference to a monastic hospice that may have existed at one point in the area.

Ysgubor: barn, granary, farm building

Ystrad: Vale, wide valley