Editing Patronymic (section)

====Welsh and Cornish====
{{anchor|Wales|Cornwall}}
{{see also|Welsh surnames|Cornish surnames}}
{{Unreferenced section|date=December 2013}}
Before the 1536 [[Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542|Act of Union]], the Welsh did not generally employ surnames, but instead used [[epithet]]s (e.g. [[Selyf Sarffgadau]], "Selyf the Battle-Serpent"), patronyms (e.g. [[Rhodri the Great|Rhodri ap Merfyn]], "Rhodri son of Merfyn"), and (much less often) matronyms (e.g. [[Rhodri the Great|Rhodri map Nest]], "Rhodri son of Nest") to identify people.

Welsh, as a [[Gallo-Brittonic languages|P-Celtic language]], originally used ''map'' or ''mab'' instead of the [[P-Celtic and Q-Celtic languages|Q-Celtic]] ''mac'' employed in Ireland and Scotland. These were later simplified to the [[modern Welsh]] ''ap'' and ''ab''. A common practice is to use ''mab''/''ab'' before a father's name beginning with a vowel (e.g., [[Llywelyn the Great|Llywelyn mab Iorwerth]]), but the two alternative forms are also employed arbitrarily in many sources.

Daughters were indicated by ''ferch'' or ''verch'' ([[Welsh language#mutation|mutated]] from ''merch'', "girl, daughter"). ''Angharad verch Owain'' would be "Angharad, daughter of Owain".

After the Acts of Union, this led to many Welsh surnames being variants of their father or ancestor's personal name: ''ap'' or ''ab Ieuan'' often became "Evans"; ''ap Rhys'', "Price"; ''ap'' or ''ab Owain'', "Bowen"; ''ap Hywel'', "Powell" or "Howell". In addition to these Anglicised baptismal and official names, patronyms continued to be commonly employed in Welsh until the [[Industrial Revolution]], particularly in the north and west of Wales. Patronyms were sometimes employed within the English names as well by using the father's personal name as the sons' [[middle name]].

Perhaps because [[Cornish surnames|Cornwall]] was legally incorporated into England earlier than Wales was, patronyms (e.g.{{lang|kw|[m]ap Ros>Rouse, [m]ap Richard>Pritchard, Davies, Evans|italic=no}}) are less common there than [[Toponymic surname|toponyms]] (e.g. [[Tresillian]], Trevithick, [[Nankivell|Nanskeval/Nankeville]]) and occupational surnames (e.g. [[An Gof]], [An] Gove, ''([[Blacksmith]])''; Helyer (Cornish dialect – possibly a [[slater]] or [[Hunter|huntsman]] ({{lang|kw|helgher|italic=no}})).<ref name="Kernow names">[reepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~kernow/names_h.htm Rootsweb Ancestry.com – Kernow names]</ref>