Editing River Afan (section)

==Etymology==

Multiple hypotheses exist regarding the origin of the river's name. One suggestion is that it is from "A-Ban" meaning "from the heights" due to its comparatively quick descent from hills to the sea. (Compare to the 'Ban' in "Bannau Brycheiniog", the Brecon Beacons).<ref>Place Names of the Afan Valley A.B.Jones 1988</ref> However, such a name would be very unusual for a river. It is not parallelled elsewhere, and does not fit in with the pattern of Welsh stream and river nomenclature in general. A. D. Mills believes the river derives ultimately from a personal name.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Mills|first=A. D.|title=A Dictionary of British Place-Names|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2003|isbn=9780198527589|location=Oxford|pages=98}}</ref>