 Many sources state the meaning of Rhondda as'noisy', though this is a simplified translation without research. Sir Ifor Williams, in his work Enwau Lleoedd, suggests that the first syllable rhwadd is a form of the Welsh adrawdd or adrodd, as in 'recite, relate, recount', similar to the Old Irish rád;'speech'. The suggestion is that the river is speaking aloud, a comparison to the English expression 'a babbling brook'.
