What's in a (place) name?

By Robyn Evans

A longstanding debate over the protection of place names in Wales hit the headlines once again recently following Snowdonia National Park Authority’s decision to stop using the English names Snowdon and Snowdonia and instead use the Welsh names Yr Wyddfa and Eyri. This decision was taken after 5,000 people signed a petition calling for the change, instigated by a local councillor amid complaints amongst local communities that house names and names for different areas in Wales are being changed from their original Welsh names.

The concern is that this has damaging cultural implications as the anglicisation of place names often has little or no relation to the original Welsh meaning, with names often chosen to appeal to tourists in particular. In turn, there is a risk that not only the Welsh language but also the local histories and heritage of different areas will be lost. 

Protesters have been calling for better protections and use of Welsh place names for decades, with the campaign in favour of bilingual road signs back in the 1960s being one of the most high-profile examples. The topic has been the subject of renewed debate in the Welsh Parliament over the past few years, with much of today’s discussion seen in the context of the second homes crisis facing many communities across the country. 

The rise in home working has resulted in an increase in people looking to retreat to more rural areas or buy holiday homes in popular tourist spots and along with this, a pattern has emerged of people buying old Welsh properties and replacing their traditional Celtic names with often entirely new English ones. A scheme by Welsh language activists to enable people to legally protect the name of their home if it was sold on was extended last year to include plots of land as well. Action was taken to extend the Diogelwn (we will protect) scheme after public outrage at the name of a farm in Carmarthenshire, Banc y Cornicyll, being lost from the Ordnance Survey map to be replaced with Hakuna Matata.

The Welsh Government has so far resisted calls to introduce legislation to protect place names and the Diogelwn scheme does little to address the naming of new build developments. However, as part of the Welsh Language Communities Housing Plan, Ministers have committed to conducting research looking into ways of preventing place names from being changed in order to safeguard the Welsh language and the identity of local places.

It will be interesting to see what solutions are put forward in this research, not least because this issue isn’t entirely unique to Wales. Places right across the UK all have their own local heritage which there is so much value in preserving and celebrating as new developments are brought to the area. 

The debate, therefore, raises broader questions about the importance of place-making and responsible development. Developers can play their part in empowering local communities by respecting local heritage and making efforts where possible to pay homage to this when naming and renaming streets, properties and other places. 

So, what’s in a name?’ So much. It’s the stories our places have to tell, the language of our communities, and often deeply tied to our sense of identity and belonging.