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[Facts] Annwyn
We named our daughter, Annwyn, from the King Arthur myth about his travels to Annwfn. I haven't found it on any name sites, but think that it is very pretty. In researching other 'Annwyns' in the world, I've only managed to find twelve. It doesn't seem to be a common name, probably because of it's meaning. I believe that 'Annwfn' refers to the 'otherworld' which many people would take to mean hell. But I'm not sure. Does anyone else know anything about the orgin of Annwyn or Annwfn?
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Arthur went down into the underworld all right, but it was just the realm of the dead, not a place of eternal punishment, and therefore not hell.Anwen (with the -wen showing it's feminine, not the masculine -wyn) is in the database here. I taught an Annwen once, who grew up in a non-Welsh working-class neighbourhood and in self-defence called herself Anne.It is beautiful ... I called her Annwen when nobody was listening!
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Does this mean we gave her a boy's name? Like I said, I couldn't find it in any name databases, but only found girls with the name in Canada.
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Well, Welsh speakers would assume that a name where the spelling was -wyn at the end was a male form. But that doesn't mean that the spelling "Annwyn" has ever been used as a male name in Wales. The Welsh mythological place seems to be spelled as Annwn or Annwfn in Welsh. So "Annwyn" would be a modern creation based on the ancient Welsh word, and wouldn't necessarily have any currency as a word or a name in Wales itself.
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Thanks:)
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Just curiousWhy "in self-defence"? Does Annwen/Anwen have any connotation (because of the sound, associations, etc.) in English?
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These kids were in South Africa, and probably couldn't have found Wales on a map. They rejected it because they'd never heard it before, and it was therefore wrong! This was very much their approach to anything outside their limited little world, poor things. They also assumed that it must in some way be posh or pretentious, as if a Smith called herself Smythe and insisted on having it pronounced smaidh. Young Annwen was quite right to duck out of the issue, unfortunately: it would not have had a happy conclusion!
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I would assume that in the "non-Welsh working class neighborhood" there was prejudice against the Welsh, so that any obviously Welsh name would have led to teasing or harrassment. That would only be a factor in England, because there wouldn't be much specifically anti-Welsh prejudice in other parts of the English speaking world. :)
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That's very surprising to me. Growing up in Canada, I haven't really been exposed to any 'anti-Welsh prejudice'. Most people who recognize the name as Welsh think that it's pretty. Irish, Celtic and Welsh names are very popular in Canada right now. I'm starting to come across many 'Liams, Cillians, Siobhans and Kieras' in my Nursery School.
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That makes senseThank you very much.
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Not really. You probably haven't found it many places because it is an uncommon Anglicisation (I definitely spelled that wrong)...
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It is uncommon, which is why I liked it so much. I teach Nursery School and didn't want my daughter to be another Katie or Emma.
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