Typical Welsh surnames – Evans, Jones, Williams, Davies, Thomas – were found in the top ten surnames recorded in England and Wales in 2000.
Contrary to popular (English) opinion the majority of Welsh people are not named Jones, the Registrar General reported less than 14 percent in 1853. However just 10 common surnames did make up over 55 percent (in order of popularity): Jones, Williams, Davies, Thomas, Evans, Roberts, Hughes, Lewis, Morgan and Griffiths.
Then, patiently, she took a deep breath and recited the correct pronunciation for the longest town name in Europe: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. Originally the town had a shorter, easier to pronounce name: Llanfairpwllgwyngyll.
The Welsh language is in the Insular Celtic family; historically spoken throughout Wales, with its predecessor Common Brittonic once spoken throughout most of the island of Great Britain.
The languages of Wales and Ireland belong to the same family; they are both classed as living Celtic languages, along with Breton and Scottish Gaelic. In Wales and Ireland, it's normal for schoolchildren to be taught their native language as part of the curriculum.
Nevertheless, the term Celtic to describe the languages and peoples of Brittany, Cornwall and Wales, Ireland, the Isle of Man and Scotland was accepted from the 18th century and is widely used today.
So, who are the Welsh? The early settlers of Wales are believed to be descendants of the Beaker culture, mixed with immigrants coming from what is now Ireland (Celts) and the Basque country in Northern Spain.
The change from patronymic to fixed surnames meant the Welsh people had a limited stock of names to choose from, which was not helped by the decline in the number of baptismal names following the Protestant Reformation.
For the most part, members of the Royal Family who are entitled to the style and dignity of HRH Prince or Princess do not need a surname, but if at any time any of them do need a surname (such as upon marriage), that surname is Mountbatten-Windsor.
The preponderance in Wales of only a few surnames (such as Jones, Williams, and Davies) led to the usage of double-barrelled names to avoid confusion of unrelated but similarly named people. Lloyd George, Vaughan Williams and Llewelyn Davies are examples of this phenomenon.
A popular surname, Jones originated in Wales, where it remains the most common in the country today (5.75% of the population), the second most popular in England (0.75%) and fifth in the United States. Jones derives from the patronymic Welsh naming tradition and describes someone who is the son of Ioan, John or Johan.
Today, Wales is seen as a Celtic nation. The Welsh Celtic identity is widely accepted and contributes to a wider modern national identity. During the 1st centuries BC and AD, however, it was specific tribes and leaders which were named.
Welsh developed from the Celtic language known as Brythonic or Brittonic. The two most closely related languages are Cornish and Breton.
The earliest Welsh inscriptions/texts date from the 8th century or later, and the earliest Irish (Ogham) inscriptions are dated to the 5th century or so.
The Welsh descended from the Celtic tribes of Europe. It has been posited that the Beaker Folk came to Wales from central Europe in around 2000BC. They brought with them rudimentary knives and axes made from metals.
Yes, Welsh people are Indigenous people of Wales in the United Kingdom. The ethnicity comprises people who had ancestral roots in Wales and those born there. Their cultural heritage includes the Welsh language, which is still included in the schools' syllabuses to date.
People born in Wales are called Welsh or British and can say that they live in Wales, Britain and/or the UK. Most people in Wales will say they are Welsh rather than British.
Some say that Carmarthen is the oldest town in Wales, and It has a rich and colourful history. Today Carmarthen remains the County Town and County Hall stands proudly above the River Tywi alongside Carmarthen Castle. A visit to the town is something all visitors to the county should experience.
It is Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch and it is the longest Welsh town name and the longest Welsh word.