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in reply to a message by thegriffon
Thanks for the thoughtful responses!
I don't think Lleucu was ever meant to be pronounced like Lucy. The 1851 census in Glamorgan shows that the name was in use at the time, and seeing as the majority still spoke Welsh at that point, I don't think the name can have arisen from a misapprehension of the Welsh pronunciation.
The usual explanation was that it was invented by suffixing cu (meaning "dear") onto the mythological boys' Lleu, thought to mean "light". I'm just wondering when it was coined: does anyone know whether it goes back a long way, or whether it was created recently as an "indigenous" equivalent of Lucy?
I don't think Lleucu was ever meant to be pronounced like Lucy. The 1851 census in Glamorgan shows that the name was in use at the time, and seeing as the majority still spoke Welsh at that point, I don't think the name can have arisen from a misapprehension of the Welsh pronunciation.
The usual explanation was that it was invented by suffixing cu (meaning "dear") onto the mythological boys' Lleu, thought to mean "light". I'm just wondering when it was coined: does anyone know whether it goes back a long way, or whether it was created recently as an "indigenous" equivalent of Lucy?
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Replies
There's a 13th-century poem containing the name Lleucu, (Marwnad Lleucu Llwyd) so nope, not a recent invention.
Lleucu isn't used as a form of Lucy; it sounds nothing like it, it's a name in its own right, and is used as such.
And a modern Welsh spelling of Lucy is Liwsi, as used by someone I know on her daughter fairly recently.
(I'm Welsh.)
Lleucu isn't used as a form of Lucy; it sounds nothing like it, it's a name in its own right, and is used as such.
And a modern Welsh spelling of Lucy is Liwsi, as used by someone I know on her daughter fairly recently.
(I'm Welsh.)
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Thank you so much, Pie, for the info! It's fascinating to hear that it IS an indigenous name. Do you have a theory as to the name's etymology?
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