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Welsh Names

Welsh descends from the Brittonic spoken across Britain before English arrived, which makes these the oldest native names on the island. Several reached the wider world through Arthurian romance rather than through Wales, arriving in English already reshaped by French storytellers.

Languages behind these names Welsh Greek probably from Latin or Arabic from Hebrew uncertain

Rankings for

157 names, most popular first in United States

Very Rare Rare Uncommon

Girls Boys Unisex

Owen Owen is a boy's name of Welsh origin, the anglicized form of Owain.
Boy Welsh #31 in US
Dylan Dylan is a boy's name of Welsh origin meaning "great tide" or "sea," from the elements dy and llanw.
Boy Welsh #41 in US
Evan Evan is a boy's name of Welsh origin meaning "God is gracious."
Boy Welsh #153 in US
Reese Reese is a name of Welsh origin meaning "ardour" or "enthusiasm."
Unisex Welsh #192 in US
Maddox Maddox means son of Madoc, and Madoc is the prince who supposedly reached America in 1170 — a legend the Tudors found useful, since it would have given England a claim predating Spain's.
Boy Welsh #211 in US
Griffin Griffin peaked in 2023, more recently than any other name in this group, and it is not named for the beast — the Welsh Gruffudd came first, and the resemblance to the griffin is coincidence.
Boy Welsh #222 in US
Bowen Bowen is a boy's name of Welsh origin meaning "son of Owain".
Boy Welsh #266 in US
Morgan Morgan is a Welsh name meaning sea-born, and it charts in all seven markets we track within a range of just over three hundred places — one of the most evenly distributed names on this site.
Unisex Welsh #312 in US
Gwendolyn Gwendolyn means white ring or blessed ring, from Welsh, and the second element is genuinely a ring — a torc or armlet, which was the standard Celtic mark of rank.
Girl Welsh #360 in US
Brynn Brynn is a girl's name of Welsh origin meaning "hill".
Girl Welsh #407 in US
Rhys Rhys is a boy's name of Welsh origin meaning "ardor" or "enthusiasm," and it gave English the surname Price by way of a Welsh word for son.
Boy Welsh #410 in US
Reece Reece means ardor, and its England and Wales peak of 1,828 in 1996 is far larger than anything the United States has recorded — a Welsh name that reached America late and never matched its home scale.
Boy Welsh #460 in US
Meredith Meredith is a Welsh man's name that turned female in America — 95 percent of the births in our records are female, and the Welsh Maredudd it comes from was borne by princes of Deheubarth.
Girl Welsh #469 in US
Winnie Winnie is a girl's name of Welsh origin meaning "blessed reconciliation."
Girl Welsh #475 in US
Trevor Trevor is a Welsh place name meaning big settlement, and the first element is the tre that begins a great many Cornish and Welsh place names — Tregaron, Trelawney, Treharris and several hundred others besides.
Boy Welsh #679 in US
Idris Idris is a name with two entirely separate origins. In Welsh it means "ardent lord," from a legendary giant; in Arabic it names a prophet and is usually read as "studious" — and the two are unrelated.
Boy Welsh #694 in US
Marvin Marvin is a boy's name from the Welsh Merfyn, and the sea friend reading usually given for it is not supported — the Welsh elements point to marrow and eminent instead.
Boy Welsh #699 in US
Megan Megan is a girl's name, the Welsh pet form of Margaret, from a Greek word for pearl that reached Europe from Persian.
Girl Welsh #888 in US
Winifred Winifred is two names that English collapsed into one — the Welsh Gwenfrewi and the Anglo-Saxon Winfrid, unrelated in every element, and our data marks the result reviving with England setting its peak this year.
Girl Welsh #922 in US
Moriah Peaked in 1992 · 14,159 births since 1968
Girl Welsh #1,094 in US
Rhiannon Peaked in 1999 · 23,987 births since 1974
Girl Welsh #1,119 in US
Vaughn Peaked in 1949 · 23,559 births since 1881
Boy Welsh #1,153 in US
Merrick Peaked in 2017 · 7,058 births since 1905
Boy Welsh #1,184 in US
Emrys Peaked in 2024 · 4,235 births since 1997
Boy Welsh #1,261 in US
Lloyd Lloyd is a boy's name from the Welsh word for gray, and the double L is a genuine Welsh consonant that English has no letter for.
Boy Welsh #1,553 in US
Gwyneth Peaked in 2013 · 7,448 births since 1915
Girl Welsh #1,771 in US
Meghan Meghan means pearl, through Megan and Margaret, and the h is an American addition — Welsh spells it Megan, and the extra letter appeared in twentieth-century American use with no basis in the original.
Girl Welsh #1,910 in US
Bryn Peaked in 2011 · 11,627 births since 1947
Unisex Welsh #2,026 in US
Floyd Floyd is the same name as Lloyd, and the F is a mistake that stuck — English had no way to say the Welsh double L, so it substituted the closest sound it had, and the substitution became a separate name.
Boy Welsh #2,245 in US
Tegan Peaked in 2011 · 18,505 births since 1957
Unisex Welsh #2,278 in US
Merlin Peaked in 1927 · 19,150 births since 1885
Boy Welsh #2,358 in US
Elan Peaked in 2012 · 5,042 births since 1963
Unisex Welsh #2,485 in US
Lynn Lynn is a name from a Welsh and Gaelic word for a lake or a pool below a waterfall.
Unisex Welsh #2,546 in US
Lynette Lynette entered English through Tennyson, who reshaped a Welsh name for the Idylls of the King — Luned became Lynette, and the spelling he used is the one that survived.
Girl Welsh #2,608 in US
Gareth Peaked in 2016 · 11,949 births since 1916
Boy Welsh #2,765 in US
Macsen Peaked in 2025 · 1,816 births since 1996
Boy Welsh #3,082 in US
Gladys Gladys is a girl's name from Welsh, usually taken as a form of Claudia — which would give it the meaning lame.
Girl Welsh #3,222 in US
Siana Peaked in 2023 · 3,833 births since 1996
Girl Welsh #3,287 in US
Arwyn Peaked in 2025 · 1,177 births since 1978
Unisex Welsh #3,427 in US
Rhydian Peaked in 2007 · 857 births since 1996
Boy Welsh #4,394 in US
Carys Peaked in 2004 · 8,916 births since 1996
Girl Welsh #4,409 in US
Enid Peaked in 1920 · 9,831 births since 1885
Girl Welsh #4,603 in US
Emyr Peaked in 1998 · 438 births since 1996
Boy Welsh #5,035 in US
Wyn Peaked in 2025 · 321 births since 1944
Unisex Welsh #5,615 in US
Glenda Glenda is a twentieth-century Welsh invention rather than a traditional name — it joins two ordinary Welsh adjectives, and it does not appear in the historical record before about 1900.
Girl Welsh #6,044 in US
Rhonda Rhonda is a girl's name from a Welsh river valley, and the great spear reading usually given for it is wrong — the Rhondda is named for its own noisiness, not for a weapon.
Girl Welsh #6,125 in US
Trystan Peaked in 2010 · 8,320 births since 1982
Boy Welsh #6,411 in US
Elwyn Peaked in 1924 · 3,589 births since 1893
Boy Welsh #6,614 in US

Related Origins