S urnames in Wales are relatively few, compared to other countries, although because of immigration into Wales and a movement in recent years from England, there is a much greater variety of surnames in Wales today than would have been found 200 years ago. As an avid genealogist, linguistics and the origins of names has held a special fascination. I have endeavored to put some of my experiences and findings into this treatis on Welsh Surnames. This is the case with most of the Welsh surnames.
Welsh names beginning with P or B or ending in s, kin, kins are patronymns.
In other countries, other words for son established the patronymic. Some of these are mac, mc, O, fitz, ski, vitch, ing, sen, and son. The next group are those from nicknames, usually about some physical characteristic of the bearer such as hair color, deformity, size, etc. The next group are the locality names. I give you the following.