Cyfenwau Cymraeg: Pam mae cymaint o Jonesiaid yng Nghymru?

Pam mae cymaint o Jonesiaid yng Nghymru?

Os ydych wedi treulio amser yn hel achau, yna mae'r nifer gyfyngedig o gyfenwau sydd gan y Cymry wedi creu rhwystredigaeth ichi. Pam mae cyn lleied? Dyma ateb yr Athro Prys Morgan...

Pa fath o enwau oedd gan yr hen Gymry?

Pa fath o enwau oedd gan yr hen Gymry?

Fe ddechreuodd y Cymry gael cyfenwau parhaol tua phum can mlynedd yn ôl. Cyn hynny, 'doedd y Cymry ddim yn defnyddio cyfenwau parhaol. Beth on nhw'n defnyddio fel enwau? Wel beth on nhw'n defnyddio fel enwau oedd eu henw bedyddiol eu hunain, dwedwch fel Siôn neu rywbeth fel yna. Ac os oedd pobl yn gofyn 'Wel, ie, pa Siôn ych chi, achos mae 'na nifer o bobl â'r enw Siôn?', fydden nhw'n dweud, 'Wel fi yw Siôn ap Gruffydd ap Llywelyn ap Meilyr,' ac odd yr ap yma yn golygu mab rhywun. Ac och chi'n dweud Siôn ap Gruffydd ap Meilyr ap Gruffydd ap Rhys, ac och chi'n mynd yn ôl gyda'r ap yma, yn ôl tua naw cenhedlaeth.

A'r rheswm am hynny oedd nad och chi ddim yn meddwl am eich hunan fel unigolyn o gwbl yng Nghymru. Yn ôl cyfraith Hywel Dda, a dyna oedd cyfraith y rhan fwya o bobol yn byw yng Nghymru hyd at bum can mlynedd yn ôl, 'doedd yr unigolyn ddim yn cyfrif fel unigolyn. Beth oedd yn bwysig oedd bod chi'n rhan o dylwyth.

Pryd newidiodd y drefn?

Pryd newidiodd hynny?

Fe newidiodd y system gyda'r Ddeddf Uno. Tua phum can mlynedd yn ôl, fe ddaeth y Saeson i Gymru a mynnu bod y Cymry yn derbyn y cyfenwau parhaol, yr un fath â'r Saeson. Felly pan ofynnwyd i'r Cymry dderbyn rhywbeth oedd yn mynd i ddangos beth oedden nhw, ffordd oen nhw'n wahanol i bobl eraill, fe ddwedodd y Cymry, 'Wel, beth sy'n bwysig amdanon ni yw enwau'n tadau ni. Felly dw i yn Siôn, a mae 'nhad yn Siôn. A mae 'nhaid yn Gruffydd.' O wel, byddai'r clerc yn dweud, 'Gewch chi fod yn John son of John, a'r ffordd symlaf o'i ysgrifennu fe lawr yn Saesneg yw John Jones.

Ond pam cymaint o Jonesiaid?

Yn yr un cyfnod ag y gorfodwyd y Cymry i gael enwau parhaol — a dyma'r peth mwya' pwysig i gofio — yr oedd 'na broses o symleiddio yr enwau bedydd, enwau cyntaf plant. Yn lle bo' chi'n cael amrywiaeth aruthrol o enwau hyfryd fel Gwasmeir a Gwasmihangel a Llywarch a Gwalchmai, yn dod o gyfnod cynnar iawn neu o gyfnod Catholig, roedd rhain yn cael eu hystyried yn enwau peryglus. On nhw'n enwau o bosibl yn baganaidd, ac odd lot ohonyn nhw yn enwau Catholig, fel Gwasmeir a Gwasmihangel a Gwasteilo, Gwasdewi. On nhw'n enwau Catholig, felly on nhw'n hollol waharddedig. Felly odd yr eglwys yn dweud bod rhaid i bawb cael enwau o gatalog syml iawn. Enwau saff iawn, fel John a David a Tomos ac ambell i enw brenin saff fel William ac Edward a Henry, ac yn y blaen. Dyna'r unig enwau saff. Ac felly, yn lle cael amrywiaeth o ryw gant a hanner o enwau oedd yn gyffredin trwy Gymru, fe symleiddiwyd rhain yn yr un cyfnod i ryw wyth neu naw neu ddeg o enwau!

Felly Tomos, Davies, Jones ac yn arbennig felly Jones. Yn arbennig yn y gogledd, rych chi'n cael cannoedd ar gannoedd o bobl yn cael yr enw Jones yn cael ei orfodi arnyn nhw.

sylw (16)

Nid yw sylwadau ar gael ar hyn o bryd. Ymddiheuriadau am yr anghyfleustra.
Tudalennau 1 2
Dr Roger Hacker
25 Ionawr 2022, 20:32
Many years ago I read a book by an academic who was at what was then called Caerleon Training College, near Newport in Wales, but which later went on to become part of the University of Wales. Sorry is this is all a bit vague but it was a long time ago and I lost that book many years ago! The explanation given in the book for there being so many Jones , and it is a very plausible explanation, was that Henry VIII was having trouble keeping tabs on the Welsh so that they could be taxed. Henry sent a General Roland to Wales to sort this out and the solution was to convert names like "Ap Hugh" which could be anglicized easily to "Pugh", "Ap Robert" to "Probert", and so on. However, when the scribes came to a real tongue twister in Welsh, which could not readily be anglicized, they rather cynically gave up and just stuck it down as "Jones', meaning "son of John". I think that's probably the correct explanation. It would have been hard to tax a family if the surname changed with each generation.
Iolo Jones
22 Ionawr 2022, 19:25
Surprised at Prys Morgan. ‘Asked’, my foot. He should know that the Welsh were, in reality, forced to take English names when Wales was subsumed into England following Henry VIII’s the Wales Acts. (Wales legally remains an English colony in the much same way Puerto Rico is a US colony.) The Welsh were ‘asked’ to drop their tradition of paternal naming, and were ‘encouraged’ to adopt Biblical or Anglicised names to get on in society. Hence Jones, when there is no J in the Welsh language. Much the same thing happened on slave plantations in the Caribbean and elsewhere where slaves were required to take the name of slave owners.

It’s time for an honest reappraisal of the damage English colonialism has inflicted upon the Welsh people, and continues to do so.

Iolo Peredur ap Iestyn ap Amos
Alan King
6 Ionawr 2022, 10:06
But does not explain how it came to be, when there is no letter J in the Welsh alphabet.
Benjamin Lewis jones
13 Rhagfyr 2021, 07:10
For family ancestry connections need to find his fathers name and any newspaper reports on his football carrer
Rhiannon
21 Tachwedd 2021, 10:46
This article mentions no women at all!
Dawn Williams
25 Gorffennaf 2021, 07:11
My family history name is bona, from St davids carmarthenshire, any information on that surname
Martin Jones
24 Chwefror 2021, 00:27
During these changes in names where did the "J" come from?
Lowri Jenkins Staff Amgueddfa Cymru
4 Ionawr 2021, 14:56

Dear Ollie,

Many thanks for your enquiry. The article on our website was written by a now retired Professor of Welsh History, Prys Morgan. He wrote a book in 1994 on the subject of Welsh surnames and It is a comprehensive guide to this subject. I’d advise you to try and gain a copy of this book either through your local library or I include a link to the University of Wales Press website where you can purchase a copy https://www.uwp.co.uk/book/welsh-surnames.

Kind regards,

Lowri Jenkins,
(Assistant Archivist, St. Fagans: National Museum of History)

Nia Evans Staff Amgueddfa Cymru
18 Tachwedd 2020, 14:59

Dear OIlie Lowe,

Thank you for getting in touch with us. I have contacted my colleague within the Social and Cultural History department to advise further on this. Hopefully we'll be able to get some more information to you soon.

Many thanks,

Nia
(Digital Team)

David Thomas
11 Hydref 2020, 12:34
In St Clears in the 1950s we had Dai Begonia (because he was keen on these flowers) and Dai Arfathou (as he was always boasting about having £500 in the bank). My brother, Robert, later became a bank manager and of course was known as Rob the Bank. But as far as I know none of these became surnames - and more the pity. The long suffering teachers in my primary school had to cope with several David Thomases, and Lord knows how many in the Cardif phone book.
Tudalennau 1 2