Comments (Meaning / History Only)
I named my son this and I found it in a book somewhere. In the book it said that this name was also Celtic meaning hero.
3
3
Comments are left by users of this website. They are not checked for accuracy.
The variant names 'Reece', 'Reese', 'Rees' amongst others are anglicised versions of 'Rhys' which was due to the anglicisation of Wales during the Act of Union in the 1500's. English scribes who translated the names often spelt Rhys as it phonetically sounded. In Wales during the time, names were patronymic meaning that Rhys could both be a surname and a given name. A patronymic name is one that the given name for example Rhys ap Gruffydd (Rhys son of Griffith) would have come from his father for example Madog ap Rhys or Griffith ap Rhys (Griffith son of Rhys). The ancient Welsh used the name Rhys for hundreds of years as early as 1000 AD and even earlier.
Feminine Use
During the Act of Union in the 1500's as family generations passed, as mentioned above, many Welsh families had the anglicised version of Rhys translated to 'Reece', 'Reese', 'Rees' amongst others. These would have been used as surnames and likely would have passed down through generations. Welsh families would have married into English families and eventually some families especially during the European colonisation of America after the 1600's and the British colonisation in the 1770's would have likely named their children with the English variants of 'Rhys'. It wasn't until the late 1900's that American families began naming their daughters Reese, Rees, Reece, Rhys.
Masculinity
The name Rhys is very masculine many ancient Celtic hero's, princes and prominent men where born of the name. The Ancient meaning of the name means 'fierce warrior' but during anglicisation the English scribes changed it to 'enthusiasm' mainly because English kings feared any Welsh uprising from the ancient Welsh royal families is Gruffydd (Griffith/Griffiths) Rhys (Reece/Reese/Rees).