These Welsh last names are 92 surnames of Wales: the 20 most common there and 72 more from Welsh, most with how the name was made, as Powell from ap Hywel, son of Hywel.
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Welsh last names and meanings
A card gives the opening of the name's dictionary or encyclopedia entry: Lloyd is from llwyd, gray; Vaughan from bychan, small; Bowen from ab Owain, son of Owen. A few entries say only that a name is Welsh, and the card says no more.
How the names were made
The dropdown, How common, keeps the 20 most common surnames in Wales or the 72 others. Under More filters, How it was made keeps names from ap or ab (24), a father's name with -s (8), a Welsh given name (25), a nickname (6) or a place (7); a card whose entry does not say is not marked.
Tips
The table of the 20 most common counts everyone in Wales, so Smith and Driscoll are on it.
Spellings stand apart: Pugh, Pughe and Pew are three cards for one Welsh name, ap Huw.
Questions and answers
What does ap mean in Welsh last names?
Son of. Before fixed surnames a child's name was linked to the father's by ap or ab: Evan, son of Thomas, was Evan ap Thomas. Worn down, ap Hywel became Powell and ab Owain became Bowen.
What are the most common Welsh last names?
Jones, Williams, Davies, Evans and Thomas are among the 20 most common surnames in Wales in the table this page marks. That table counts everyone living in Wales, whatever the origin of the name.
Why are there so many Joneses in Wales?
Welsh surnames were fixed late, from the 15th century onwards, out of a system that linked a child to the father's first name. Jones, Williams and Thomas became so widespread that double surnames came into use in the 19th century.
Is Jones a Welsh last name?
It is of English and Welsh origin: the personal name Jone, a form of John, with -s. It is particularly common in Wales, where it stands for the Welsh patronymic ap Siôn.
DaviesAmong the 20 most common surnames in Wales. A Welsh patronymic meaning “son of David”.
DriscollAmong the 20 most common surnames in Wales. From Irish Ó hEidirsceoil and Ó Drisceoil.
EdwardsAmong the 20 most common surnames in Wales. A patronymic meaning “son of Edward”.
EvansAmong the 20 most common surnames in Wales. A surname of Welsh, and possibly Cornish, origin.
GriffithsAmong the 20 most common surnames in Wales. A surname with Welsh origins.
HughesAmong the 20 most common surnames in Wales. Usually of Irish and Welsh origin.
JamesAmong the 20 most common surnames in Wales. The English New Testament form of Jacob, from Middle English James.
JenkinsAmong the 20 most common surnames in Wales. A patronymic surname that is derived from the male given name John + kin (a diminutive) + -s (denoting "son of") hence meaning "son of little John".
JonesAmong the 20 most common surnames in Wales. From the personal name Jone, a form of John, with -s; in Wales it stands for the Welsh patronymic ap Siôn.
LewisAmong the 20 most common surnames in Wales. From Middle English Lewis, Lowis, from Old French Louis.
MorganAmong the 20 most common surnames in Wales. From Old Welsh Morcant, possibly from *mor (“sea”) (Welsh môr) or *mọr (“great”) (Old Welsh maur) + *kantos (“circle”) (Welsh cant), meaning “great chief” or “sea chief”.
MossAmong the 20 most common surnames in Wales.
OwenAmong the 20 most common surnames in Wales. Usually an anglicized form of the Welsh personal name Owain; it became a fixed surname in Wales from the reign of Henry VIII.
PhillipsAmong the 20 most common surnames in Wales. A patronymic of English and Welsh origin from the given name Philip.
PriceAmong the 20 most common surnames in Wales. From ap Rhys, “son of Rhys”.
ReesAmong the 20 most common surnames in Wales. From the Welsh personal name Rhys.
RobertsAmong the 20 most common surnames in Wales. From the given name Robert, “son of Robert”; common in North Wales.
SmithAmong the 20 most common surnames in Wales. From smith or Middle English Smith (“a surname”), alternative form of Smyth, itself from smyth (“smith”).
ThomasAmong the 20 most common surnames in Wales. Middle English Thomas, from Latin Thōmās.
WilliamsAmong the 20 most common surnames in Wales. Variant of William with genitival or post-medieval excrescent -s.
More surnames from Welsh 72
BaddamsAnglicized from Welsh ab + given name Adam.
BeddoeOf Welsh origin, from Bettws or Betws, a name that goes back to Old English bed-hus, a house of prayer.
BeddoesVariant of Beddow.
BeddowFrom the Welsh personal name Bedo, a hypocoristic form of Meredydd.
BevanAnglicization of Welsh ab Ifan.
BewFrom Welsh ap + Huw.
BlethenFrom the Anglicized form of the Welsh personal name Blethyn.
BowenFrom Welsh ab Owain (“son of Owen”).
BreckonHabitational surname from the town of Brecon, in Wales.
CaddellFrom the Welsh personal name Cadell, which derives from the root of cad (“battle”).
CadoganA variant of the Welsh name Cadwgan; also an anglicized Irish surname.
CadwalladerFrom the Welsh name Cadwaladr, “battle-leader”.
CoslettAn uncommon surname with origins in 16th-century Wales.
CraddockOf Welsh origin, from the name Caradog, “beloved, amiable”.
CrowtherFrom the crwth, an old Welsh musical instrument.
DaffeyA Welsh surname.
EvinsA variant spelling of Evans.
FaughnVariant of Vaughan.
FloydAnglicization of the Welsh name Lloyd, from Welsh llwyd (“gray, gray-haired”).
FluellenOf Welsh origin, from the name Llywelyn.
FoulstonA Welsh surname.
GlynFrom Welsh glyn (“valley”).
GoughAs a Welsh surname, from coch (“red”).
GriffithFrom the Welsh given name Gruffudd.
GwilliamAnglicized form of the Welsh personal name Gwilym.
GwynneAn anglicized spelling of the Welsh name Gwyn, “white” or “blessed”.
HowellAn anglicized form of the Welsh name Hywel.
IfansA Welsh surname.
LeyshonFrom the Welsh given name Lleision.
LlewellinA Welsh surname from the personal name Llywelyn.
LlewellynThe most common spelling, as a family name, of the Welsh personal name Llywelyn.
LloydFrom Welsh llwyd (“gray, gray-haired”).
MaddoxWelsh Madog.
MadocksA Welsh surname.
MeirionA Welsh given name and surname, from the Latin name Marianus.
MeredithFrom Welsh Maredudd (“great lord”).
MyddeltonA variant of Middleton associated with Wales.
NanneyOf Welsh origin, from Nannau, an estate at Dolgellau in North Wales.
PalinAnglicization of Welsh ap Heilyn (“son of Heilyn”).
ParryAnglicized from Welsh ap Harri, "son of Henry".
PellingVariant of Palin.
PendryAnglicized from Welsh ap + Hendry (“son of Henry”).
PennoyerA Welsh surname.
PenryAnglicized from Welsh ap + Hendry (“son of Henry”).
PewLess common spelling of Pugh, from Welsh ap + Huw.
PowelVariant of Powell.
PowellThe anglicized form of Welsh ap Hywel (“son of Hywel”).
PowisVariant of Powys.
PowysBorrowed from Welsh Powys, from Latin pagēnsis (“provincial”).
PrichardFrom Welsh ap + English Richard.
PritchardAnglicized from Welsh patronymic prefix ap + Richard.
ProbertFrom Welsh ap + Roppert (“son of Robert”).
ProbinAnglicized from Welsh ap + the given name Robin.
ProbynAnglicized from Welsh ap + the given name Robin.
ProdgerFrom ap Rosier, “son of Roger”.
ProsserAnglicized from Welsh ap + Rhosier, "son of Roger".
ProtheroOf Welsh origin, from ap Rhydderch.
PughFrom Welsh ap (“son of”) + Huw (“Hugh”).
PugheLess common spelling of Pugh, from Welsh ap + Huw.
RhysFrom Old Welsh Ris (“ardor, fiery warrior”).
RosserFrom Welsh Rhosier, a cognate of the English Roger.
SayceAnglicized form of Welsh Sais (“Englishman”), an ethnonymic surname.
ShoneAnglicized form of Welsh Siôn (“John”).
TraherneA Welsh surname, also spelled Trahern and Treherne.
TrevelyanA Welsh and Cornish name from a place-name, the farmstead or town of Elyan.
TudorThe Welsh name comes from the Brythonic name Tudur.
UpjohnAnglicized form of Welsh ap (“son of”) + John.
VaughanWelsh Vychan, from bychan, diminutive of bach (“little”).
WoganA surname of Welsh origin.
WynA Welsh surname and given name.
YorathA Welsh surname from the name Iorwerth.
How this list was compiled
Built on 2 October 2026 from three sources read that day. (1) The 20 most common surnames in Wales: the Wales table of English Wikipedia's 'List of most common surnames in European countries' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_common_surnames_in_European_countries), which credits a paper from University College London; the names are marked as a group and no rank or percentage is printed, because the paper's terms were not read. The table counts people in Wales whatever the name's origin, so Smith, Moss and Driscoll are on it. (2) Surnames from Welsh in the dictionary: entries of English Wiktionary's categories 'English surnames from Welsh' and 'Welsh surnames' (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:English_surnames_from_Welsh, CC BY-SA 4.0) whose etymology could be read as one plain sentence that names its Welsh source; the card's sentence is the opening of that etymology, sometimes shortened. (3) Surname articles in English Wikipedia's categories 'Welsh-language surnames', 'Anglicised Welsh-language surnames' and 'Surnames of Welsh origin' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Welsh-language_surnames) whose opening says the name is Welsh; for these 41 cards the line is our own short wording of what that opening states, and where it says only that the name is Welsh, so does the card. Left out: English place names with a Welsh root; a card that says only that a name is a variant of another when that other name is not on the list; names or clauses with a word this site does not print; and, to keep names that other lists of this site hold under four in ten of this list, 28 better-known names beyond the 20 most common (Rice, Reese, Hopkins, Watkins, Owens and Perry among them). How a name was made is read from the card's sentence (ap or ab, 'son of'; a father's name with -s; a Welsh given name; a nickname; a place); a card whose sentence does not say is not marked. An origin is what a dictionary or an encyclopedia records for the surname in general, not for any one family. Licence: English Wiktionary and English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). The selection and the short lines are our own work.