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New Year Welsh Phrases
Y Flwyddyn Newydd
New Year is called "Y Flwyddyn Newydd" in Welsh. The phrase to know first is "Blwyddyn Newydd Dda!" (Happy New Year!).
The Welsh New Year greeting is Blwyddyn Newydd Dda, "a good new year". New Year's Eve is Nos Galan and New Year's Day is Dydd Calan. Here are the greetings, the old calennig rhyme and the words for the turn of the year.
Greetings
Blwyddyn Newydd Dda!
/ˈblʊiðɪn ˈnɛ.wɪð ðaː/
Happy New Year!
Literally "a good new year". The same for one person or many.
Blwyddyn Newydd Dda i chi
Happy New Year to you
The first line of the old calennig rhyme. I chi is "to you", plural or polite: the rhyme speaks to the whole household.
Replies
A chithau!
And you too! (polite, or to more than one)
The reply to a group or to anyone you call chi. To one friend, say A thithau.
For cards and messages
Ac i bawb sydd yn y tŷ
And to everyone in the house
The second line of the rhyme. Together the two lines make a warm card message.
Useful words
Nos Galan
New Year's Eve
Nos means "night"; calan is the first day of the month, and becomes galan after nos.
Dydd Calan
New Year's Day
The first of January.
calennig
New Year gift
From calan, "New Year's Day". Children collected it door to door.
adduned Blwyddyn Newydd
New Year's resolution
Adduned means "vow" or "resolution".
Hen Galan
Old New Year's Day (13 January)
The Julian-calendar New Year, still kept in Cwm Gwaun.
The history of Y Flwyddyn Newydd
On New Year's Day Welsh children traditionally went from house to house to collect calennig, a New Year gift of money or food, singing a verse at each door. Children also carried an apple stuck with three sticks and decorated with box and hazelnuts. One of the rhymes they sang is recorded in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru: Blwyddyn Newydd Dda i chi, / Ac i bawb sydd yn y tŷ. In Cwm Gwaun, Hen Galan, the old New Year's Day of the Julian calendar, is still kept on 13 January.
Common questions
How do you say Happy New Year in Welsh?
Blwyddyn Newydd Dda, or Blwyddyn Newydd Dda i chi, "Happy New Year to you" (plural or polite).
New Year in the other Celtic languages
Further reading
Go beyond the phrases
blas. teaches Welsh with spaced repetition — vocabulary, mutations, grammar, reading, and conversation. Not just for New Year, but for life. Free to start.
Start learning WelshWelsh phrases for the year ahead
Welsh phrases for everyday occasions
Sources
Every phrase and fact on this page was checked against the sources below. Last checked 2026-10-20.
- Wikipedia
- Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru: blwyddyn
- Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org
- Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org
- Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org
- blas. course data
- Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org
- Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org
- Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org
- Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org
- Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org
- Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru: calennig
- Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org
- Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org
Credit: Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.