Brythonic Name Generator

Names of the Brittonic-speaking peoples of Britain, taken from the historical record: Iron Age rulers like Cunobelinus and Cartimandua, Senovara and Tancorix from Roman Britain, Maglocunus and Voteporix from inscribed stones, and the Old North of Urien Rheged, Rhydderch Hael and Heledd.

About Brythonic names

Brythonic, or Brittonic, was the Celtic language spoken across Britain before and during Roman rule, and the ancestor of Welsh, Cornish and Breton. Its oldest names are compounds in the style of Gaulish: cuno- (hound), maglo- (prince), catu- (battle), vindo- (white) and -rix (king) give Cunobelinus, Maglocunus, Catuarus and Vindiorix. Women's names take -a in their Latin dress, as in Cartimandua, Boudica and Senovara.

Between the fifth and seventh centuries the language shed its final syllables, and the names shortened with it. The Catamanus of a stone at Llangadwaladr is the king later called Cadfan, Maglocunus became Mailcun and then Maelgwn, and Urbgen became Urien. The list keeps each name in a spelling that is on record: Latinised Brittonic from coins, Roman writers, curse tablets and gravestones, Old Welsh from the Harleian genealogies and the Historia Brittonum, and the standard modern Welsh forms used for Y Gododdin, the Llywarch Hen and Heledd poems and the saints.

Epithets belong to the tradition and appear where they are recorded: Hael (generous) in Rhydderch Hael, Hir (tall) in Hyfaidd Hir, Hen (old) in Coel Hen. The 500 entries run from Iron Age rulers and the gods of Roman Britain to the kings of the Old North and the early saints. None is a modern coinage built from name elements.

How to choose Brythonic names

• Stay in one period. Tasciovanus and Addedomarus belong to the Iron Age, Docilianus and Lovernisca to Roman Britain, Brohomaglus and Cunomorus to the fifth and sixth centuries, and Urien Rheged and Rhydderch Hael to the age of the Old North.
• Add a father's name the way the sources do. Gravestones use Latin fili, the Old Welsh genealogies use map, and later Welsh uses ap, or ab before a vowel, as in Cynon ap Clydno and Owain ab Urien.
• Give a ruler or warrior an epithet after the name. Hael, Hir and Hen are the common ones, and an adjective often softens its first letter, which is why the list has Gwrfelling Fras and Merfyn Frych.
• Women are thinly recorded, so the choice is smaller. Senovara, Tancorix and Vellibia come from Roman Britain, while Heledd, Ffreuer, Nyfain and Languoreth come from the early medieval north and west.
• In the Welsh spellings dd is the th of "this", a single f is v, and w and y can be vowels, so Heledd is close to HEL-eth and Gwallog starts like "gwa".

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Brythonic, Briton and Welsh names?

The Britons were the Celtic-speaking people of Britain, and Brythonic or Brittonic is the name of their language. Welsh, Cornish and Breton grew out of it, so a Welsh name such as Cadfan is the later form of a Brythonic one, Catamanus. This page stays with the older layer, from Cunobelinus and Cartimandua to the kings and saints of the early Middle Ages.

Are these real historical names?

Each entry is meant to be a name found in an early source: coin legends, Roman authors, inscriptions and curse tablets from Bath and Uley, inscribed stones, the Harleian genealogies, the Historia Brittonum, early Welsh poetry and the saints' traditions. A few coin legends, such as Andoco, Dias and Aun Cost, are probably abbreviations whose full forms are not known. The list was drafted from those sources and nothing was built from name elements. Spellings differ between editions, so look a name up in a scholarly edition before you lean on its exact form.

Why does one name appear in more than one spelling?

The sources span about nine hundred years of sound change, and scribes wrote what they heard. Maglocunus in Gildas is the Maelgwn Gwynedd of Welsh tradition, Urbgen in the Historia Brittonum is Urien Rheged, and Voteporix on a stone from Dyfed is a close relative of the Vortipor named by Gildas. Such pairs are kept on purpose so you can pick the stage of the language that suits your setting.

What do Hael, Hir and Hen mean?

They are Welsh epithets that followed a name and told people apart. Hael means generous, as in Rhydderch Hael and Nudd Hael; Hir means tall or long, as in Rhun Hir; Hen means old, as in Llywarch Hen and Dumngual Hen. Gwledig, seen in Cunedda Wledig, is a title for a ruler.

Related generators

All 500 Brythonic names