Price is the page in one name. It began as ap Rhys, ‘son of Rhys’. Said fast, century after century, the ap fused to the name and then wore away: ap Rhys to Prys to Price. Wales named sons after fathers with no fixed surname at all, and the desks of England finally froze the results. That is the receipt, and every row below carries one.
65 real surnames, six families, one rule. Each row shows the family, the parts and the meaning. The ap- rows show the fusion. The -s rows show the chancery’s fix. Contested parses are flagged in the row, not smoothed over. The diaspora rows show both spellings of the crossing.
Grouped by family. The family stays on every row.
Welsh last names with family, build and meaning receipts
Name
Family
Built from
Meaning
Copy
The ap- fusions: ap or ab, son of, fused into one name
Price
ap- fusion
ap Rhys
son of Rhys; the ap fused and fell
Pritchard
ap- fusion
ap Richard
son of Richard
Parry
ap- fusion
ap Harry
son of Harry, from Henry
Powell
ap- fusion
ap Hywel
son of Hywel, the eminent one
Pugh
ap- fusion
ap Hugh
son of Hugh, heart and mind
Probert
ap- fusion
ap Robert
son of Robert, bright fame
Bowen
ap- fusion
ab Owain
son of Owain, the noble-born lane
Bevan
ap- fusion
ab Ifan
son of Ifan, the Welsh John
Upjohn
ap- fusion
ap John
son of John; the ap worn down to Up
Beddoe
ap- fusion
ab Dafydd
son of Dafydd; the traditional parse
Protheroe
ap- fusion
ap Rhydderch
son of Rhydderch, the reddish-brown lane
Prys
ap- fusion
ap Rhys, fused short
son of Rhys, cut to one beat
Prosser
ap- fusion
ap Rosser
son of Rosser, from Roger
Penry
ap- fusion
ap Henry
son of Henry, the home-ruler lane
Beynon
ap- fusion
ab Eynon
son of Eynon, the old Welsh given name
The chancery -s forms: the English desk added s to a given name
Jones
chancery -s
John + s
of John; the desk’s fix for ap Siôn
Evans
chancery -s
Evan + s
of Evan, the Welsh John lane
Davies
chancery -s
Dafydd + s
of Dafydd, the beloved one
Williams
chancery -s
William + s
of William, the helmet-will
Thomas
chancery -s
Thomas, worn whole
the twin, kept whole from the Bible
Roberts
chancery -s
Robert + s
of Robert, bright fame
Hughes
chancery -s
Hugh + s
of Hugh, heart and mind
Lewis
chancery -s
Llywelyn + s, anglicized
of Llywelyn, the lion lane, anglicized
Phillips
chancery -s
Philip + s
of Philip, the horse-lover lane
Griffiths
chancery -s
Griffudd + s
of Griffudd, the strong grip lane
Edwards
chancery -s
Edward + s
of Edward, the rich guard
Richards
chancery -s
Richard + s
of Richard, the brave power
Harris
chancery -s
Harry + s
of Harry, from Henry
James
chancery -s
James, worn whole
the supplanter lane, kept whole
Watkins
chancery -s
Gwatkin + s
of Gwatkin, the little Wat lane
Hopkins
chancery -s
Hopkin + s
of Hopkin, the young Robert lane
Jenkins
chancery -s
Jenkin + s
of Jenkin, the little John lane
Perkins
chancery -s
Perkin + s
of Perkin, the little Peter lane
Celtic descriptives and old names: grey, small, white; the old name bank
Lloyd
Celtic descriptive
llwyd
grey, the brown-grey of hair and hill
Vaughan
Celtic descriptive
fychan
younger, the small one of the family
Gwyn
Celtic descriptive
gwyn
white, fair, blessed
Wynne
Celtic descriptive
gwyn, anglicized
white, fair; the desk’s spelling
Morgan
Celtic old name
mor + cant, traditional parse
sea-bright; the old Welsh name, parse traditional
Rhys
Celtic old name
Rhys
ardor, the rushing one
Llewellyn
Celtic old name
llew + gwalch? parse debated
the lion lane; the traditional gloss, flagged
Tudor
Celtic old name
Tewdwr, the Welsh form
the old Welsh form of the Theodore lane
Cadwaladr
Celtic old name
cad + waladr
battle-leader, the last old-king name
Hywel
Celtic old name
hywel
eminent; the law-maker’s name
Meredydd
Celtic old name
mor + iudd? parse debated
sea-lord, the traditional gloss, flagged
Owain
Celtic old name
Euguen? parse debated
the noble-born lane; gloss traditional
Place-rooted: the hill, the rock, the settlement
Bryn
place-rooted
bryn
the hill
Craig
place-rooted
craig
the rock, the crag
Trevor
place-rooted
tref + fawr
the big settlement; the traditional parse
Mostyn
place-rooted
the Mostyn estate
of Mostyn, the Flintshire seat
Nant
place-rooted
nant
the brook, the stream valley
Pennant
place-rooted
pen + nant
head of the brook; the documented estate name
Open patronymics, the poets’ receipts: the old system shown in full
Dafydd ap Gwilym receipt
poets’ receipts
the ap worn open
the patronymic era shown in full: Dafydd, son of Gwilym
Gwenllian
poets’ receipts
gwen + llian
the fair flaxen one; the princess name of the chronicles
Myfanwy
poets’ receipts
my + manwy? parse debated
my fine gentle one; the traditional gloss
Ieuan
poets’ receipts
Ieuan
God is gracious; the Welsh John lane, worn open
Diaspora spellings: the emigrant desk, both spellings shown
Llewellyn → Llewellin
diaspora spelling
the emigrant desk
the double-l kept, the ending trimmed
Vaughan → Vaughn
diaspora spelling
the emigrant desk
the augh trimmed to augh-n
Rhys → Reese
diaspora spelling
the emigrant desk
one sound, two spellings, same old name
Griffiths → Griffith
diaspora spelling
the emigrant desk
the s dropped
Davies → Davis
diaspora spelling
the emigrant desk
the ie became i
Price → Pryce
diaspora spelling
the desk, revived spelling
the Victorian y put back in
Bevan → Bevans
diaspora spelling
the emigrant desk
the s added back
ap Rhys → Price → Reese
diaspora spelling
two desks, three spellings
the ap- name’s full American journey
Jones → Jones
diaspora spelling
the desk kept it
already English-shaped; the most common Welsh-American name
Upjohn → Upjohn kept
diaspora spelling
the desk kept it
the fused ap- survived the crossing whole
ap, ab, ferch: the open system
Wales ran on patronymics, not surnames. A name said who your father was, and it changed every generation. The particles:
The patronymic particles
Particle
Meaning
Example receipt
ap / ab
son of; ab before a vowel
ap Rhys, son of Rhys
ferch
daughter of
Gwenllian ferch... the daughter lane
-s
of the name, the English desk’s fix
Evans, of Evan
The how surnames work page carries when and why the system froze, country by country.
The word bank
Five old words build half the page. The grey, the small, the fair, the settlement, the hill: each wore into more than one surname. The bank:
The chancery needed fixed names, so it added s. Under the Acts of Union era and after, English law and record-keeping demanded one family name that stuck. The desk took the father’s given name and added the English possessive s: John to Jones, Evan to Evans, Dafydd to Davies, William to Williams. A small stock of common given names, frozen this way, is why a short list covers most of Wales. The scottish last names lane froze its Mac names the same way, and this page borrows zero of its rows.
What America did to them
The emigrant desk is a receipt too. Vaughan often crossed as Vaughn, the augh trimmed. Rhys crossed as Reese or Rhys, one sound in two spellings. Llewellyn kept its double-l and lost an l at the end. And the great Welsh export, Jones, needed no change at all: the chancery had already shaped it for English desks. The irish last names lane tells the same crossing story with its Gaelic originals.
Welsh last names questions, answered
What does ap mean in welsh names?
It means ‘son of’. Ap Rhys is son of Rhys. Ab Owain is son of Owain, with ab before a vowel. Say them together fast and they fuse: ap Rhys became Price, ab Owain became Bowen. The fusion is the page’s central receipt, and it happened in the mouths of speakers long before it happened at the desk.
Why is Jones so common in wales?
Because the English chancery fixed surnames with -s. Wales ran on patronymics: your name changed with your father. When the law needed fixed family names, the desk took the father’s name and added s. John gave Jones. Evan gave Evans. Dafydd gave Davies. A handful of fathers named John, written down for centuries, gave Wales its most common name.
Are Reese and Rhys the same name?
Yes, two spellings of one old name. Rhys means ardor, the rushing one. The ap- form ap Rhys fused into Price. Some families kept the root instead and crossed as Reese or Rhys. The diaspora table shows the whole journey: ap Rhys to Price to Reese.
Where these names come from.The ap- patronymic system, the chancery -s fix, and the diaspora spellings follow standard Welsh onomastic references. Old-name glosses (Morgan, Llewellyn, Meredydd, Owain) carry their traditional parses, flagged in-row where scholarship debates them; no row presents a contested parse as certain. The poets’ receipts show the open patronymic system as documented in medieval Welsh poetry. Where every name's receipt comes from →