Llywellyn
m.
Lugus, the name of a Celtic deity, deriving from Proto-Celtic *lug, of disputed meaning, + Belenus, the name of a Celtic sun deity, of uncertain origin, possibly relating to the god-name Apollo.
The name of a 10th C king of Powys, an 11th C king of Gwynedd, Powys, and Deheubarth, a 12th-13th C prince of Gwynedd, a 13th C prince of Gwynedd, a 13th C king of Wales, a 13th C prince of Gwynedd.
This name became increasingly popular in Wales after the reign of Llywelyn the Great in the 12th-13th C, so much so that when Shakespeare needed to name a generic Welsh captain in Henry V, he named him Fluellen, a roughly phonetic version of the English pronunciation of Llywellyn. From the 13th C on, Anglo-Norman scribes often equated the name with Lewis (cf. Louis).
- England
-
- Latin
- ● 1281 Lewelini (gen) CHAMont-1 p. 45
- Early Modern English
- ● 1558 Llewelyn RegSASel p. 2;
1559 Llewelyn ibid. p. 5;
1560 Llewelyn ibid. p. 5;
1560/1 Llewelyn ibid. p. 7
- Wales
-
- Latin
- ● 1198 Lowelin (nom) Pryce-1st no. 8;
1216xc1226 Lewelini (gen) ibid. no. 16,
Lewelinus (nom) ibid. no. 16;
1223 Leulini (gen) ibid. no. 19,
Leulinum (acc) ibid. no. 19;
1247 lewelyno (abl) ArchCambIII p. 228;
1452 Llewelyn (nom) ibid. p. 71;
1453 Llewellyn (nom) ibid. p. 69,
Llewelyn (nom) ibid. p. 69;
1454 Llewelyn (nom) ibid. p. 71;
1455 Llewelyn (nom) ibid. p. 72;
1456 Llewelyn (nom) ibid. p. 258;
1457 Llewelyn (nom) ibid. p. 259
- Early Modern English
- ● 1576 Lle'n RegLlantrithyd p. 61
Cite as: S.L. Uckelman. "Llywellyn". In S.L. Uckelman, ed. The Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, Edition 2016, no. 3. http://dmnes.org/2016/3/name/Llywellyn.