Message: "Feminine form of the Welsh "ap?""

[Surname] Feminine form of the Welsh "ap?"

by Aphid

2/17/2009, 9:07 AM

I've often heard that the Welsh "ap" means "son of" and/or "son" and is therefore roughly equivalent to "mac". That comparison instantly raises the question of whether there was any Welsh equivalent for the Scottish "nic". Since "mac" and "nic" seem tied to clan, it seems possible that there isn't, but I've often wondered and am not sure how to go about researching it.

According to my dictionary, "merch" is daughter in modern Welsh, while son is given as "mab."

#Welsh

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- Marc (picard) +2

2/17/2009, 9:43 AM

The most usual form is Ach. You'll find more info at http://tr.im/gota

- Jim Young (guest) +1

2/17/2009, 11:39 AM

According to D.Geraint Lewis, "Welsh Names", ach derives from merch, as ap derives from mab (= mac). It would appear from his comments that, where a family has adopted a Welsh form with the ap component, say Ap Dafydd, this form is used by male and female family members. This is unlike the Irish custom, but like the English where a female member of a Wilson family would not be called Wildaughter.

- Aphid

2/20/2009, 9:25 AM

Thanks to both of you - that's helpful, and very interesting!

Thanks

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