OpenTube

Where in Wales Does Your SURNAME Come From?

GenealCymru

756,452 views

Do you know where your Welsh surname came from? Can a surname help you pinpoint the exact community in Wales where your ancestors were from? Find out with professional genealogist, Dai Davies.

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#Genealogy
#FamilyHistory

Public Domain Images For the images 100+ years old and in the public domain, a special thanks to the following institutions for their dedication to digitizing these historical records:

The National Library of Wales
The Yale Center for British Art
The Internet Archive
The Digital Commonwealth

Timestamps

00:00 Surnames & Our Roots
00:35 Types of Welsh Surnames
00:48 Topographic Surnames
02:13 Noble Surnames
03:03 Occupational Surnames
03:25 Characteristic Surnames
03:49 The Most Common Surnames
04:42 Looking at the Numbers
05:59 Popular Misconceptions
06:09 Welsh vs. English Surnames
07:35 Beyond Surnames

20 Comments

@siegiedward 5 months ago Pinned

I emailed Dai to find out if I had Welsh ancestry. Dai is a lovely open, warm sensitive skilled researcher. We had a great chat for half an hour and discussed the fee for his report. Dai compiled a fantastic report, now my story about 5 generations of my Welsh ancestors. It's been really exciting! Dai put together many details including many footnotes with hyperlinks as well as photos of the churches where family married. Very special information. Best money I've ever spent - so worthwhile. No more wonder if I have welsh heritage! 😄I'm very grateful for the work you have done Dai! I'll be in touch!

@gordondahle7844 3 years ago

I descended from nobility. All that means is that my rich ancestors spent all their money and didn’t leave any for me.😢

@simonKagree 2 years ago

My grandmother was a Harris, who married a Scot, named Stevenson. When I look at these places, I feel a calling.

@WelshEnZo 2 years ago

Welcome to the Welsh Family! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

@robertevans6596 2 years ago

Fascinating and excellent pronunciation too for a Canadian

@tonyalewis9053 3 years ago

My Mother tried researching my Father’s family genealogy. She found no record of legal immigration. Most likely, I am told, my Lewis ancestors migrated to Canada and eventually crossed the US border without bothering with documentation. I visited Wales in 2018; it’s a wonderful country and I felt at home there.

@robertk2194 2 years ago

Im from wales, and still live there to this day, my parents and grandparents are also from wales. Cymru am byth

@stephanieknowles7586 2 years ago

My paternal grandmother was Welsh. Rees, as in “Rees jacks save backs.” From Pennsylvania 1880’s. Some research points to Resolven, a little north of Swansea. Spent a month in Wales ten years ago. My soul is there.

@llew8563 3 years ago

Impeccable pronunciation of Cymraeg (Welsh) - much respect 🙏

@victoriaburkhardt9974 3 years ago

Thank you. My Mother’s maiden name was Griffith. She was convinced that the Welsh are the best singers in the whole wide world.

@markwilliams5606 3 years ago

Have successfully investigated my families heritage to Wales and London. Got as far as 1345. We came here in 1620.

@dbrh72 3 years ago

Very interesting video. Our grandmother emigrated to the USA when she was 9. Thankfully we know the town she was born in. Her mother was born a Williams, and married a Jones. Gramma later married a Roberts. Through some genealogy group my sister was out in touch with someone who lives in the town she came from. He was able to find out for us the very house she was born in!

@TheDevilsAdvocate. 2 years ago

Check out the Mabinogion if you haven’t already. It’s a collection of Welsh myths and legends. Like the legend of Gelert. It happened in Beddgelert not far from me, you can visit the grave and the ruins of the house. There’s nothing like it to connect you with the land and the people.

@markwilson7788 3 years ago

Your comment is so true. If I hadn't obtained a few vague pieces of info when there was still time, I would have not even have found my grandfather. Those snippets were enough to identify the area.

@tonilove8245 3 years ago

I loved this video and came across it by chance. I am a Hughes by birth and I know somewhere down the line my ancestors are welsh, and i have a strange longing in Wales. I live in southern England but my dad and uncle live in Wales so I go up there when I can. This has made me want to look further into my family tree as i can only go so far back at the moment. Once again thank you.

@willow3885 2 years ago

Your pronunciation of Welsh is perfect! 🥰

@OTseven 3 years ago

Extremely interesting. Thank you for putting this together so nicely with so much Information.

@joachimjustinmorgan4851 3 years ago

I love my name. Morgan has a mixture of noble and nefarious characters tied to it, but they are at no loss for interesting stories.

@Kikatebnpagan 2 years ago

My gran was a Sellick from Wales she also would say the Welsh are the best singers, she would be singing all the time while Gramp would whistle.Miss that..❤

@klewis2048 2 years ago

Morriston connection. My Lewis line is from here, at least from mid 1850s, and I grew up and went to school here too. The industrial connection was with metal smelting and chemical processing, and the males in my line work at the blast furnaces. Lovely to see your family photo.