Welsh Names
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About this list
Welsh names have attracted new interest in recent years, both within Wales and beyond. Some Welsh baby names are being newly discovered by parents throughout the English-speaking world, with choices such as Bryn, Owen, Maddox, Dylan, and Evan climbing the international popularity lists.
Welsh girl names in the US Top 1000 include Brynn, Gwendolyn, Morgan, Reese, and Tegan. Welsh boy names that rank among the US Top 1000 include Dawson, Ellis, Evan, Maddox, and Owen. In Wales, popular names include Megan, Meredith, Dylan, and Rhys.
In Lord of the Rings, the Welsh girls' name Arwen sparked a fashion for wen-ending names, while previously unknown Welsh baby names such as Carys, Seren, and Bowen are achieving more widespread use. A beautiful yet tiny country, Wales has its own distinctive language and culture and a lovely roster of its own baby names.
The Welsh baby names here are ordered according to the current popularity on Nameberry.
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The names
Owen
Welsh
"young warrior; well-born"
Owen, a resonant Celtic name, has ranked among the Top 100 boys' names in the US for 20 years and is now at its highest point ever. Why do so many parents love Owen? It's a classic with a genuine…
Dylan
Welsh
"son of the sea"
Dylan still feels poetic and romantic after years of popularity. It still ranks highly on the charts, among the top boy names starting with D , so if you choose it, be aware that yours may not be the…
Gael
Breton
"Gaelic"
This cross-cultural name, found in Wales, Brittany, and Spain, is a surprise star in the U.S in recent years, largely thanks to actor Gael Garcia Bernal. Also written as Gaël, it's a popular choice…
Dawson
English
"son of David"
Dawson was scarcely heard as a first name before the debut of Dawson's Creek in 1998, at which point it leaped up more than 550 places in one year. The character Dawson Leery, played by James Van Der…
Evan
Welsh variation of John
"God is gracious"
Evan has a mellow nice-guy image that has kept it popular, while it has been widely used in Wales since the nineteenth century. And interestingly—and surprisingly—enough, Evan charts highly for boys…
Reese
Welsh
"ardor"
The sassy, steel magnolia appeal of Oscar-winning Reese (born Laura Jeanne—Reese is her mother's maiden name) Witherspoon has single-handedly propelled this formerly boys’ name into girls'…
Maddox
Welsh
"son of Madoc"
Maddox, a previously obscure Welsh family name with a powerfully masculine image, suddenly came into the spotlight when Angelina Jolie chose it for her son in 2003. By the following year it was in…
Ellis
English surname derived from Elijah or Elias or Welsh
"my God is Yahweh; benevolent"
Ellis is a former Old Man Name turned gender-neutral choice for the 21st century. It's one of the less used names in the currently popular El-family, unless you're in the UK, where it's a Top 100…
Bowen
Welsh, Chinese
"son of Owen; wave of writing, wave of literature"
Bowen is a Celtic surname representing two separate Celtic strains, one Welsh and one Irish, and entered the US Top 1000 for the first time in 2011. Football Hall of Famer Drew Brees named his son…
Morgan
Welsh
"sea-born, sea-song or sea-circle"
Morgan has long been a traditional Welsh male name, a variant of the Old Welsh name Morcant, from the Welsh elements mor , meaning "sea" and cant , "circle." The female Morgan is unrelated to the…