Celtic Place-Name Explainer
See what Irish, Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Cornish, Breton and Manx place names mean, how to say them, and where they are.
140 place names
“banks of the River Dee”
“church of Idloes”
from penrhyn “headland”, dau “two” and traeth “beach”
“church near the waters”
“the stone bridge”
“church on the River Cefni”
usually explained as Rhiw Fabon, “Mabon’s slope”, after Saint Mabon; the cited dictionary instead suggests rhiw “hill” and afon “river”
“new castle”
from ystrad “wide valley” and mynach “monk”
from porth “port” and tywyn “sand dune”
from am “at, near” and llwch “water”
“mouth of the River Tyleri”
from rhos “moor”, llannerch “clearing” and grugog “heathery”
“Baldwin’s town”, from tref “town” and Baldwin (Faldwyn), after the Norman lord Baldwin de Boulers
“church of Dewi”, the Welsh form of David
“mouth of the River Teifi”
“Saint Mary’s Church in the hollow of the white hazel near the rapid whirlpool and the Church of Saint Tysilio of the red cave”
“wattle”, from Old Welsh bancor
originally Pontardulais, “bridge at the mouth of the Dulais”, from pont “bridge”, aber “mouth” and the River Dulais
“mouth of the River Afan”
from pen “head” and llech “rock”
“church of Saint Stephen”
from bala, “outflow from a lake”
“Saint Mary’s Church by the fort of Einion”
“place of Cein”, a personal name
from hen “old”, tŷ “house” and gwyn “white”; ar Daf means “on the River Taf”
“land’s end”
“the new town”
“fortress of the Ordovices”, a British tribe
“mouth of the River Rhiw”
from ystum “bend”, llwyn “grove” and garth “wooded slope”
“abbey in the long valley”
“at the end of the road”
“basilica”
from pen “head” and traeth “beach”
from blaen “point, head” and cwm “valley”
“church on the River Llyfni”
“little forest”
“church of Saint Tegfan”
“church of Saint Tegai”
believed to be from bwncath, “buzzard”
“new bridge”
“black meadow”
“castle” of Caereinion, “the fort of Einion”
“church of Saint Dona”
“Saint Cybi’s island”
“church of Saint Eilian”
from coed “trees” and tŷ “house”
Common place-name elements
Many names are built from a few common words. Pick one to see every place that uses it.
- llan · church, parish (26)
- aber · river mouth, confluence (16)
- caer · fort (9)
- pont · bridge (7)
- pen · head, top, end (6)
- tref · town (5)
- cwm · valley (4)
- tŷ · house (4)
- castell · castle (3)
- coed · wood, forest, trees (3)
- din · fort, stronghold (3)
- dôl · meadow (3)
- gwyn · white (3)
- newydd · new (3)
- ton · lea, pasture (3)
- ynys · island (3)
- bae · bay (2)
- coch · red (2)
- mynydd · mountain (2)
- porth · port, harbour (2)
- pwll · pool (2)
- traeth · beach, shore (2)
- ystrad · valley, vale (2)
- abaty · abbey (1)
Go deeper than the map
blas. teaches the language behind the places: vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. Free to start.
Meanings and glosses are adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0) and the other sources cited on each page. Map and area data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).