I just love Cornish names. Most likely due to the connection with Welsh names.
For those that aren’t familiar with them. Cornish is a Celtic language that comes from the English county of Cornwall. It is a Brithonic Celtic language, which means it is from the same language family as Welsh and [name]Breton[/name] (Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic and Manx are Goidelic Celtic and so not as closely related).
Here are some of my favourites:
Ailla – ‘most beautiful’ Prn ‘EYE-la’
Blejan – ‘flower’
[name]Caja[/name] – ‘daisy’
Chesten – Cornish form of [name]Christine[/name]
[name]Demelza[/name] – Cornish place name used for girls meaning ‘fort of Maeldaf’
Ebrel – ‘[name]April[/name]’
Elowen – ‘elm’
Endelyn – Medieval saint, Endellion. A daughter of [name]Brychan[/name].
Hedra – ‘[name]October[/name]’
[name]Jenifer[/name] – Cornish from of Welsh Gwenhwyfar ([name]Guinevere[/name])
[name]Kelyn[/name] – ‘holly’
Kensa – ‘first, foremost’
[name]Kerensa[/name] – ‘love’
[name]Kerra[/name] – ‘dearest’ (in a ‘costlier’ sense)
[name]Keyne[/name] – Medieval saint. A daughter of [name]Brychan[/name]. Prn ‘KAYN’. Possibly from Welsh /cain/ ‘beautiful’
Lowenna – ‘joy, happiness’
[name]Mabyn[/name] – Medieval saint, Mabena. A daughter of [name]Brychan[/name].
[name]Marya[/name] – Cornish form of [name]Mary[/name].
Metheven – ‘[name]June[/name]’
Morvoren – ‘mermaid’ /mor/ ‘sea’ + /vores/ ‘girl’
Morgelyn – /mor/ ‘sea’ + /kelyn/ ‘holly’
[name]Nessa[/name] – ‘second’
[name]Rosen[/name] – ‘rose’
Rosenwyn – ‘white/shining rose’
Steren – ‘star’
[name]Tamsyn[/name] – Cornish form of [name]Thomasina[/name]
[name]Tegan[/name] – ‘pretty’
[name]Tressa[/name] – ‘third’
Wenna – Medieval saint and queen. From Welsh [name]Gwen[/name] ‘white, fair, blessed’.
Austell / Austol – Medieval cornish saint.
Breok / Breock / Bryok – Medieval saint. From Welsh Briafael /bri/ ‘fame, distinction’ + /mael/ ‘leader’
[name]Cadan[/name] – from /cad/ ‘battle’
Cador – from /cad/ ‘battle’ + /wur/ ‘man’
[name]Colan[/name] – Possibly from Welsh /collen/ ‘hazel tree’
Daveth – Cornish form of [name]David[/name]
[name]Gerens[/name] / Gerent – Medieval saint and king. From Welsh [name]Geraint[/name].
[name]Jago[/name] – Cornish form of [name]James[/name]/[name]Jacob[/name]
[name]Jory[/name] – Cornish form of [name]George[/name]
Jowen – Cornish form of [name]John[/name]
Margh – Cornish form of [name]Mark[/name]
Myghal – Cornish form of [name]Michael[/name]
Pedrock / Pedrog – Important Cornish saint.
[name]Piran[/name] – Patron saint of Cornwall (rhymes with [name]Kieran[/name])
Rewan / Ruan – Medieval bishop and saint.
Yestin – Cornish form of [name]Justin[/name]
Letter are mostly pronounced the same as English. With few exceptions:
‘s’ is said more like ‘z’
‘gh’ is like gutter ‘ch’ like Scottish loch
‘dh’ is hard ‘th’ like that.
Stess is on the penultimate syllable i.e. [name]Jago[/name] = [name]JAY[/name]-go, [name]Kerensa[/name] = keh-[name]REN[/name]-za, Morvoren = mor-VOR-en
What do you think? Any tickle your fancy?
I think Ailla is an interesting alternative to [name]Isla[/name]? Certainly has a better meaning than [name]Isla[/name] whose etymology means ‘swelling, big bottomed, big flanked’
Yes, like these names - I have Cornish ancestry as well as being Welsh! Two of my Cornish ancestors from the early 18th century were [name]PASCOE[/name] and [name]AMBROSE[/name]. I think [name]Pascoe[/name] at least, is traditionally from Cornwall.
Aisla, I’m jealous! I’d love to find some Cornish ancestry! The closest I get is [name]Devon[/name]. I want to cover all of the Celtic cultures. I’m (very proudly! lol) quarter Welsh, and have a smidge of Irish, but I’m desperate to find some Scottish and Cornish in there somewhere.
Those names are great. I think you’re right, [name]Pascoe[/name] is an old Cornish favourite if memory serves.
sighWaits for her shiny Cornish Names book to come in the post that’s been on order for weeks
Where do you live elea? what is the other 3/4 of you made up of then,?! I am jealous of your Irish smidgin! I have English (Cornish, Devonian, and [name]Geordie[/name]), Welsh, and I THINK there is some Irish somewhere, but I have not found it yet. The children’s dad is Scottish, so their ancestry is even better - I am doing my ex-husband’s family tree in my spare moments.
Where do you get your name books from - Amazon? There are some good secondhand book sites, like [name]Abe[/name] Books?
Have you got children yet and if so, have they got Celtic names?
Tryphena is a name that I really like which has enjoyed some degree of popularity in Cornwall.
I think it was a Puritan name. [name]Even[/name] though it is not from the Celtic language I hear it was often found in Cornwall.
The rest of me is English. [name]Norfolk[/name] and [name]Lancashire[/name] mostly although I live in the Midlands.
Everyone has some Irish in them I think --it’s finding it that is the problem
I mostly trawl around the internet getting recs for good books and then get them from amazon marketplace. Although many have come from 2nd hand bookshops that I tend to haunt.
No, I don’t have any children yet, but my longstanding (since I was 13) set-in-stone name for a boy is [name]William[/name] [name]Rhys[/name]. Most of my other combos tend to have a Celtic name as well: [name]Lydia[/name] [name]Maeve[/name], [name]Annabel[/name] [name]Carys[/name], [name]Juliet[/name] [name]Kerensa[/name], [name]Evelina[/name] [name]Seren[/name], [name]Owain[/name] [name]Maxwell[/name], [name]Frederick[/name] [name]Jago[/name], [name]Theodore[/name] [name]Bryn[/name], Macsen [name]Jude[/name]
I’m a primary school teacher and I’m even teaching my (6 yr old) class some Welsh words at the moment! Obsessed much?
Oh how wonderful! I wish I had had a teacher like you!
Welsh is now back in voge, big time, and new Welsh-medium primary schools are springing up all over the place - i.e. you send your child there from the age of 4, and EVERYTHING is taught through the medium of Welsh, so your child is bi-lingual. I wish such schools had been around ten or fifteen years ago, so I could have sent mine. [name]Ah[/name] well. [name]Just[/name] have to wait for the grandchildren, which could be a long wait!
xxx
like your name choices! have you had holidays in [name]Wales[/name]? what sparked off your interest?
[name]Elea[/name] – I was thinking of doing a blog on Cornish names but you are obviously the expert! Would you like to do a guest blog on the subject? Write to me at pam@nameberry.com and let’s discuss!
Thanks, [name]Ailsa[/name]. I think I’ve always been fascinated with Welsh names. My mum and grandfather always used to tell me about when they lived in [name]Wales[/name] and taught me the odd Welsh word when I was little. Whenever we went on holiday to [name]Wales[/name] I used to get the sense of personal history there (which I do when I go to [name]Norfolk[/name] as well).
It was only when I started really researching names that I became interested in the other Celtic languages as well.
I’m so glad that the Welsh have started to reclaim their language. My grandads parents and grandparents were all bilingual speakers, but when he was born in the 20s Welsh was seen as a backwater language and sadly his parents deliberately didn’t teach him Welsh because they didn’t want it to hold him back in life.
[name]Even[/name] when my mum lived in [name]Wales[/name] for 4 years as a child, she wasn’t taught Welsh at her primary school
[name]Pam[/name] did mention to me about doing a Welsh one, but I am a bit nervous about this, there are so many erudite and knowledgeable Nameberry People out there. If you do a Cornish one, it might give me the courage I need! Go on, please!
[name]Ailsa[/name], if you don’t agree to do a guest blog on Welsh names, then I shall hunt you down and smack you upside the head with my copy of Beyond [name]Ava[/name] & [name]Aiden[/name].
