Welsh Patagonian names
In 1865 the sailing ship Mimosa landed about 150 Welsh settlers on the empty Chubut coast, dreaming of a Wales beyond England's reach. The towns still carry their founders' names (Trelew is Lew's town, for Lewis Jones), the chapels still hold an annual eisteddfod, and children in Gaiman and Trevelin still answer to Eluned, Carys, and Bryn in two languages.
Aled a north Wales river name; short and modern, and Spanish pronounces it exactly as Welsh does
Angharad much loved (the intensive an- + car, 'love'); a proudly unassimilated name, the pick of families keeping full Welsh alive in Patagonia
Blodwen white flowers (blodau + gwen); the title role of the first Welsh-language opera, a name of the chapel-and-choir generation
Branwen white raven; a princess of the Mabinogi, a story name for heritage-proud families
Bryn hill; a one-syllable piece of Welsh landscape, at home under the Andes as in Wales
Carys from caru, 'to love'; a modern Welsh revival favorite that travels clean into Spanish, every syllable legal in both
Dylan 'toward the tide' (dy + llanw); the sea spirit of Welsh myth, the one Welsh name the whole world already says, the easiest door into the tradition
Eira snow; a light modern Welsh pick that lands softly in Spanish too, AY-ra in both of Chubut's languages
Elin Welsh form of Helen, 'torch, light' by tradition; plain to spell, warm to say, identical in Spanish
Eluned traditionally from eilun, 'image, idol'; writer Eluned Morgan, born at sea on the voyage out, became the colony's great chronicler with Dringo'r Andes
Emrys immortal (the Welsh Ambrose), Merlin's other name in the old histories; a bard's name fit for an eisteddfod chair
Gareth meaning uncertain, the form Malory gave his kindest knight; fully Welsh yet familiar everywhere
Gwen white, blessed (the feminine of gwyn); the root syllable of half the Welsh name book, complete on its own
Gwyn white, blessed; the masculine of Gwen, and in myth Gwyn ap Nudd, king of the otherworld
Lewis form of Louis, 'famous in battle'; colony founder Lewis Jones gave his name to a whole Patagonian city, Trelew, 'Lew's town'
Luned the maiden of the medieval Owain romance; in Gaiman, educator Luned Roberts de González kept Welsh alive in the schools
Mabon great son (from the Celtic youth god Maponos); an old myth name enjoying a quiet Welsh revival
Mair the Welsh form of Mary; the chapel name of the founding generation, still legible in Welsh in the colony's chapel yards
Myfanwy an old endearment, 'my fine one' by one reading, 'my woman' by another; Joseph Parry's choral song keeps it sung wherever Welsh choirs meet, Patagonia included
Nia Welsh form of Irish Niamh, 'bright'; the golden-haired Nia of the Welsh Oisín legend, said the same in both of Patagonia's languages
Olwen white footprint; in the old tale of Culhwch and Olwen, white flowers spring up wherever she walks
Owain traditionally read as 'well born'; the name of Owain Glyndŵr, the last native Prince of Wales, spelled the old way rather than the anglicized Owen
Rhiannon probably from Rigantona, 'great queen'; the Mabinogi's rider of the white horse, a heritage deep cut
Rhys ardor, enthusiasm; a medieval royal name of Wales, one syllable sturdy enough to survive any border
Seren star; the modern Welsh favorite, and in Patagonia a name Spanish says effortlessly, syllable for syllable
Tegai from teg, 'fair, beautiful'; Tegai Roberts, keeper of Gaiman's regional museum, wore this rare name as guardian of the colony's memory
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