1. Home
2. Blog
3. What’s in a name – yn Gymraeg?

Start pondering over any map or guidebook about Eryri (Snowdonia) or Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) in Gogledd Cymru (North Wales) and you will see place names of mountains, rivers, valleys, villages, woods and local features in Welsh – the widely spoken first language of this area of North Wales, in particular.

By studying national census statistics and other research, one can trace historical increases, declines and increases again in the use of spoken and written Welsh amongst the population of Wales over past centuries.

Delve a little deeper into their findings and one uncovers a wealth of political, social, cultural and economic influences on the status of the Welsh language.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t until 9 February 2011 that a set of measures designed by the Welsh Assembly were passed as legislation (law) – thus making Welsh an official language within Wales.

Relating this back to unique historical documents, such as mapping of North Wales and Snowdonia, for example, this first interaction you may have with Welsh words offers a wonderful example of how a very ancient language so well describes its environment and context.

Welsh has its ancestral roots within a group of very old Celtic languages (Common Brittonic), including Breton, Cornish and (now extinct) Cumbric, with Welsh being recorded as emerging around the 6th century.

Place names in Wales also derive from who was living in areas at the time (for example, Romans, Anglo Saxons and landowners in the Industrial Revolution).

You’ll find Welsh place names are very descriptive; they draw their influence from their environment, religious connections, people, size of things and location. Starting to understand and appreciate these place names, within context, is a wonderful journey and will help unlock meaning from a map, in a very practical sense.

Please do also ‘Like’ our Climb Snowdon Facebook page, where we will be posting a Welsh place name on Friday each week and its meaning and use to us now – most of them being very close to or on Snowdon to start with!

It’s a unique process, to learn a little every week to help appreciate this very special area of North Wales, known as Eryri, in Welsh. We have enjoyed reading this little gem of a book to inspire us (Author: Iwan Arfon Jones, 1998).

Even knowing a few more words of Welsh for local names will make it easier identifying places and features on a map!