ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2951
http://www.s-gabriel.org/2951
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29 Oct 2004
From: Josh Mittleman 


Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked whether <Rhys ap Rhydderch> is an appropriate name for a
15th or 16th century Welshman.  Here is what we have found.

You've chosen well, though we will recommend different spellings of
your name.

The two masculine given names <Rhys> and <Rhydderch> were both in use
in Wales in your period; and the overall form of your name is typical
of names in late-period records [1].  The name was pronounced \HREES
ahp HRUHDH-ehrkh\ where \DH\ represents the sound of <th> in <this>
and \kh\ stands for the raspy <ch> sound in the Scottish word <loch>
or German <Bach>.

However, the particular spellings you've chosen may not be appropriate
for your period.  In the article where you found these names, the form
of each name given in the first column is the standard modern Welsh
spelling of the name.  The spellings in the second column are ones
found in 16th century documents -- but those documents were written by
English scribes using anglicized spellings.  <Rhys> appears in these
and similar 16th century documents as <Rees>, <Res>, <Rice>, <Ryce>,
<Ryse>, <Reice>, <Rise>, etc.  <Rhydderch> appears as <Rudderch>,
<Rydderch>, <Ritharche>, <Reddererch>, and in many other spellings [1,
2].  We therefore know that your name could have be written by an
English-speaking scribe in many ways, e.g. <Rees ap Rudderch>, <Res ap
Rydderch>, etc.

A 16th century Welsh-speaking scribe would have used a different set
of spellings (with some overlap).  One source, written c.1600, uses
the spellings <Rys> and <Rydderch> [3].  Following that guide, we
recommend you write your name in Welsh as <Rys ap Rydderch>.


We hope this letter has been useful.  Please write us again if any
part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions.  I was
assisted in researching and writing this letter by Aryanhwy merch
Catmael, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Effrick neyn Kenneoch, and
Talan Gwynek.

For the Academy,


  Arval Benicoeur
  29 Oct 2004


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References

[1] Jones, Heather Rose (aka Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn), "A Simple
Guide to Constructing 16th Century Welsh Names (in English Contexts)"
(WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1996).
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/tangwystyl/welsh16.html

[2] Morgan, T.J. and Prys Morgan, _Welsh Surnames_ (Cardiff: University of
Wales Press, 1985), s.nn. Rhydderch, Rhys.

[3] Dwnn, Lewys, ed. By Samuel Rush Meyrick.  1846.  Heraldic
Visitations of Wales and Part of the Marches (vols I & II).  Welsh
Manuscripts Society, Llandovery.  Dwnn consistently uses <R> rather
than <Rh> in personal names; and uses <ap> before words beginning with
both consonants and vowels.