Angharad - what's in a name?

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I get asked this quite often, is it Welsh, what does it mean and so on? I don't mind because people generally ask questions when they want to know something.

It is a Welsh name and is known from the ninth century as that of the wife of Rhodri Mawr, king of Gwynedd. It probably originates before that. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angharad

It was also the name of Giraldus Cambrensis's mother.
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giraldis_Cambrensis.

The name is also mentioned in the Mabinogion.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mabinogion

So it's been around a little bit longer than I have, but not much. I hope the attached links are of interest, the Mabinogion is perhaps the first mention of King Arthur in an historic context.

Hugs,

Angharad.

how is it pronounced?

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The voice in my head makes it sound more or less like "Ingrid." How far off am I?

I believe it is pronounced.

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and hopefully I can do this phoneticly enough and correct enough.

ong-Hurod

and it is the short 'u' as in 'uh'

I hope that is right, Angharad.

A.A.

Pronouncing Welsh.

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Angharad's picture

Welsh words are pronounced more or less phonetically once you understand the alphabet, which is slightly different to the standard English one. However none of that applies to my name. It can be pronounced two ways, the preferred Ang-har-ad or An-gharad, the H being sounded in both.

Anyway, I don't care what you call me as long as you call me for dinner!

Hugs,

A.

Angharad

A couple of decades ago, in a forested hollow not so far away...

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Before I let anyone else in my family know about the intersexed thing, I told my Gran'fa. He was the center of my world when I was younger, and I loved him dearly. He was as great for me as my grandmother (his wife!) was evil. Of course, he accepted me.

He was Irish, an immigrant, but back in the family line there had been some Welsh, and the family has had a proclivity for Irish and Welsh names ever since, until my generation.

So, being starved for grandchildren named in the way his family had always liked, he decided that if I were to go from being his favorite grandson to his favorite granddaughter, I should have the name to end all names! It was his opinion that I should be named: Lauriane Caitlín Mfanwy Beabhansidhe Caernan

Now, that is a mouthful.

  • Lauriane - LAW-ree-AHN-ay --- The then-current matriarch of the Clan back in Ireland. Hee! His version of naming me for someone he held in awe.
  • Caitlín - kah-iyt-LEEN --- His mother's mother's mother's name. So, my Great3 Grandmother's name. The typical way it's pronounced today is kat-LEEN.
  • Mfanwy - EMM-err-FAWN-eee-way --- His older sister who died on the Titanic who he said ever after that I favored (a blatant lie meant to flatter me, and it worked, durnit!). When I first saw the name in Maddy Bell's Gaby stories I was all like, "Yay!" and it's still nifty, even if pronounced differently. Truthfully, Maddy's version is probably the "correct" way to say it!
  • Beabhansidhe - buh-VON-shee --- I like this one, but I think he made it up! I mean, I see parts of like... three different Irish/Welsh names in there!
  • Caernan - KAHR-nayn --- An Anglicization of the Clan name -- so he said. Y'know, for someone I loved so much, the man was a damn liar :P

I still use Lauriane and Mfanwy and Caernan in some things... roleplaying, performances, and such.
Edeyn Hannah Blackeney
Wasn't it Jim Henson who said, "Without faith, I am nothing," after all? Wait, no, that was God. Sorry, common mistake...

Mfanwy/Myfanwy

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Angharad's picture

There are a couple of variant spellings. Pronounced Mu-van-wee or My-van wee. Diminutive, Fanu (Van-oo). 'F' is hard in Welsh and pronounced as a 'V', 'FF' is soft. It means My fine woman, or my fine one, probably from the nineteenth century.

Angharad.

Angharad

Something about

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The variant between the two, Myfanwy versus Mfanwy, being that 'Myfanwy' meaning someone's 'claimed, kept woman,' and the the 'Mfanwy' version meaning a woman free of any man... I don't remember exactly where I found that info, though.
Edeyn Hannah Blackeney
Wasn't it Jim Henson who said, "Without faith, I am nothing," after all? Wait, no, that was God. Sorry, common mistake...

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