Title: The Surnames of Wales
Authors: John & Sheila Rowlands
Published: 1996, reprinted 2008
Type: soft cover
Size: 5½ x 8½
Pages: 229
ISBN: 9780806315164
FRP Item #: GPC 5032
According to The Surnames of Wales, there are many myths and misconceptions about surnames in Wales. How could there not be, when the ten most common nineteenth century surnames in Wales comprised nearly 56% of the population? Compare that to the ten most popular surnames in nineteenth century England accounted for less than 6% of that population. How does one identify their ancestors from all the others sharing the same name? This book attempts to rectify any misunderstanding about Welch surnames.
The Surnames of Wales, helps researches trace their ancestry by demystifying the origin of Welsh surnames. The book outlines the genesis of Welsh surnames, the distribution of common surnames throughout Wales, and the locality of less common names. The authors, John and Sheila Rowlands, believe a solid understanding of the historical development of surnames in Wales, with a reference to the relative incidence of individual surnames, will help any family historian overcome difficulties finding individuals in one’s ancestry. This book certainly will help the researcher achieve this goal.
The book contains seven chapters. Chapter 1 is the introduction. Chapters 2 and 3 provide an historical overview Welch names, including the patronymic naming system and other systems of name development. Chapter 4 outlines the purpose, methodology and results of a surname survey covering the period of 1813-1837. Chapter 5 is the largest in the book and serves as a glossary to the over 250 surnames found in the survey discussed in chapter four. Chapter 6 breaks out other interesting facts discovered in the survey, including, the rate of marriages, the distribution of surnames and the dominance of certain names. Chapter 7, as described by the authors, “sets out some surname evidence for the presence of people of Welsh origin in population outside Wales and also describes how a knowledge of the relative incidence in Wales of even the most common surnames can be used to suggest a place of origin for migrant or emigrant ancestors.”
Table of Contents:
Preface
Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 Welsh Names and their Origins
Chapter 3 The Adoption of Surnames
Chapter 4 A Survey of Surnames in Wales
Chapter 5 A Glossary of Surnames
Chapter 6 Further Uses of the Survey
Chapter 7 Migration, Emigration and Place of Origin
References and Select Bibliography
Appendix A Parishes by Hundreds Within Counties
Appendix B
Appendix C
Subject Index
Surname Index
The Surnames of Wales also contains nearly 40 surname incidence and distribution maps, taken from over 270,000 surnames found in Parish records. These maps cover the most common nineteenth century surnames, along with a few of the more interesting less common names.
If your are of Welsh descent, this book may just help you find the link to your ancestor through a better understanding of the origin and distribution of surnames across Wales.
Order your copy of The Surnames of Wales by John and Sheila Rowlands; Item #GPC 5032