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Original poster

Bronwen or Bronwyn?

29 replies

panpandemic · 29/12/2020 05:55

Which one is the correct spelling? I have been under the impression that Bronwen is the right one but someone today told me it's not. Bronwyn is.

Apparently Bronwyn is the original spelling and this person mentioned knowing so as they are Welsh themselves. However I have never met any Welsh Bronwyn, all have been -wen and it's the first time I ever hear this.

So which one is correct?

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KirstenBlest · 31/12/2020 09:17

@lunalucie, it's not an old welsh name. 'Welsh names' sites tend to have nonsense on them.

Arwen is perfectly ok to use as a welsh name, but it's not an old name, just the feminine form of Arwyn. Similarly, the name Alwyn isn't welsh, but Alwen is.

Bronwyn on the other hand is not a boy's name, just a misspelling of Bronwen. Olwyn as a spelling of Olwen is unfortunate, and it is not used as a boy's name.

You could add -wen to a boy's name to make up a girl's name (e.g. Clwydwen or Aledwen), but the names don't generally take off.

August20 · 31/12/2020 02:05

@lunalucie

Sorry do you mean there were women named Arwen born before the 1950s? Because I know of men named Arwyn from before then but no Arwens. I have seen claims on some American baby name sites that it an ancient welsh name but there are never any sources.

August20 · 31/12/2020 01:58

@HeadlessGummyBears

Well maybe but although I have heard of Arwyn for boys I have never met or heard of an Arwen from before Tolkien used the name for the daughter of Celebrian and Elrond in Lord of the Rings.

lunalucie · 30/12/2020 20:15

@KirstenBlest it's not a fictional name it's a old Welsh name. Google the origin of it and you'll see it's been around longer than LOTR.

I've just realised all the times I've seen my cousin defending her name has rubbed off on me 😂 seriously though I've seen her explain and google it so many times to die hard fans.

I'm also confused how we got from Bronwen to this 😂

KirstenBlest · 30/12/2020 20:03

Arwyn is a boy's name and Arwen is the girl's name created by changing the -wyn to -wen. It's not much used, but Arwyn is.

The name Arwen was created by JRR Tolkein.

Ar in a name means near, I think, and the -wen bit is white.

chaosisaladder · 30/12/2020 19:58

I know a Bronwen! It’s a lovely name. Hope you use it Smile

lunalucie · 30/12/2020 19:49

[quote August20]@HeadlessGummyBears

Do you mean Anwen? Anwen is Welsh, Arwen is Elvish.[/quote]
Arwen is Welsh. It means fair, I have a cousin with this name and people always think it's from LOTR and don't know it's Welsh origin.

SuitedandBooted · 30/12/2020 19:33

It's Bronwen for a girl. Your friend is mistaken, and getting confused by anglicised or American versions

TheRealBoswell · 30/12/2020 15:20

Oh that’s a shame. Sorry, I didn’t mean to cause offense.

ILoveShula · 30/12/2020 13:21

It can be, but it was in LOTR first.

HeadlessGummyBears · 30/12/2020 03:26

[quote August20]@HeadlessGummyBears

Do you mean Anwen? Anwen is Welsh, Arwen is Elvish.[/quote]
@August20 Apologies, I thought that Arwen was a derivative of Arwyn?

August20 · 29/12/2020 23:46

@HeadlessGummyBears

Do you mean Anwen? Anwen is Welsh, Arwen is Elvish.

CaffiSaliMali · 29/12/2020 23:43

It's definitely Bronwen, not Bronwyn. If Bronwyn was a Welsh name it would be masculine due to the wyn.

Welsh wen names are often mispronounced as 'win' rather than 'when'.

Is your friend a Welsh speaker? I work with a Welsh person who doesn't speak Welsh and the way they pronounce Welsh names like Seren, Eira, Osian and Dylan is markedly different to my Welsh speaking family. They're from the same part of Wales, so it's not an accent difference.

ILoveShula · 29/12/2020 20:23

Kaitlyn is an americanised form of Caitlín, an irish name. No welsh connection whatsoever other than a faous welshman was married to one. You could make up a version - Cadlyn perhaps - but the -yn makes it look masculine.

GreenClock · 29/12/2020 20:19

Lovely name!

AllTheThingsHeSaid · 29/12/2020 20:17

Haha Cadwyn?! That is certainly not a name. It means chain, like chained up. -wen for girls, -wyn for boys- the swapping around sounds very very odd to Welsh ears.
I once read on here that someone had a Welsh aunt called Olwyn. Olwen is the proper name... That poor woman. Olwyn means wheel.

DramaAlpaca · 29/12/2020 20:15

Bronwen is correct.

DacwMamYnDwad · 29/12/2020 20:14

Bronwen.
Cadwyn isn't a name, it's the Welsh word for chain.

JohnMiddleNameRedactedSwanson · 29/12/2020 16:08

She’s wrong and you are right. Her GCSE Welsh obviously hasn’t stuck.

MenaiMna · 29/12/2020 13:14

Your friend may be from Wales but is she Welsh first language? The advice here about Bronwen being right for a girl is pretty easy to Google. And use the sound function to hear how it should be pronounced. There's three vowels in there!

YoniAndGuy · 29/12/2020 12:09

She is wrong in every possible way. Bronwen is correct for a girl.

HeadlessGummyBears · 29/12/2020 12:03

Bronwen also looks easier to pronounce. Not sure if you’re taking suggestions, but if you are then I’d like to suggest Arwen.

ILoveStickers · 29/12/2020 11:09

Bronwen is the correct spelling in Welsh.

FortunesFave · 29/12/2020 07:32

She's confused by the Y. Bronwyn is the Anglicised version of the Welsh original.

Bronwen is the Welsh one. And the original.

Original poster
panpandemic · 29/12/2020 06:41

This is what I tried explaining about -wen and -wyn but she kept mentioning Bronwyn was the original one. I didn't go on about it as I slightly doubted myself for a bit there and also she mentioned being Welsh and since I am not I just didn't want to come off as patronising.

She even mentioned Cadwyn being the Welsh form of Kaitlyn which I have also never heard of. I am not the most knowledgeable when it comes to Welsh names but I like to think I'm not that lost, I even tried Google and nothing about those two names being related.

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