Place name changes in Wales: research on current trends (summary)

This research aims to provide the Welsh Government (WG) with a better understanding of the scale and character of changes to Welsh language place names by exploring formal and informal changes to place names as well as the reasons behind them.

The study concentrated upon a detailed analysis of property names, both residential and business names. While the research touched on some examples of changes involving topographical names, and how Ordnance Survey (OS) records and visually represents place names on their products, it did not examine the use of and changes to topographical names in detail.

Literature review to understand the factors associated with place name changes and the wider context in which this research takes place

In minoritised language contexts such as Wales, discussions of place names are typically concerned with questions of power, culture, location and identity.

The use of digital technology complicates rather than erodes the experience of place in ways that are equally applicable to rural as well as urban landscapes.

People actively use digital media to become place makers, with the potential to challenge more traditional forms of placemaking.

Local authority policies and actions for addressing applications for property and street naming and renaming and the effectiveness of such policies

Local authority (LA) street naming and numbering (SNN) policies and actions can be diverse – particularly in relation to their provisions regarding the Welsh language and historical names.

Differences in LA SNN policies are reflected in the data recording and keeping practices regarding property and street naming and renaming applications.

LA SNN policies appear to be dynamic, with LAs responding to SNN officer input, developments in relation to Welsh language place names, names associated with historical events, or historical names.

SNN officers consider, to some extent, that their roles involve safeguarding Welsh place names. This involves protection of Welsh language place names specifically, but also names that are generally considered to be of cultural or local significance. SNN officers are aware of an increasing perception of the importance of Welsh place names.

The roles of SNN officers within LAs are varied, with a general pattern that SNN officers undertake other responsibilities as part of their work. This contributes to the finding that SNN officers are under pressure, which impacts LA SNN policies and actions.

Current naming trends in Wales

Street names

Between 2018 and 2023, LAs received three times more applications for Welsh language street names (338 applications) than for English language street names (95 applications).

Property names

A greater number of applications were received by LAs for naming properties with Welsh language names (1,444) than English language names (1,125).

Prior to April 2020 to March2021, LAs received similar numbers of applications for Welsh language and English language property names.

From April 2020 to March2021 onwards, there have been more applications for Welsh language property names than English language names. While the LA data shows a recent increase in properties formally named in Welsh, the data does not provide an explanation for this increase.

Property name changes

Most property renaming applications submitted to LAs did not result in a change of language. Where an application did result in a language change, it was between three and four times more likely for a property renaming application to request a change of name from English to Welsh than from Welsh to English.

Alias naming — when a property or business name is added to an existing named or numbered address — leads to an even more pronounced trend of name changes from English to Welsh language names.

Digital house names survey

A digital house names survey conducted by Cadw provides additional insights on the language of house names, alias names and people’s motivations for choosing and changing house names. This data indicates that:

• in all regions of Wales, significantly more house names are changed from English to Welsh or Welsh to Welsh than from English to English or Welsh to English
• it is not just Welsh speakers who keep or change property names to Welsh language names; some people who have moved to Wales also value Welsh language place names
• having a house name in the Welsh language evokes a sense of pride, place or nostalgia for many residents; there is very little in the data which says the same about English language house names

Property names and attitudes to property names and name changes in selected localities

Linguistic landscape surveys were conducted in Y Fenni / Abergavenny, Abersoch, Cei Connah / Connah’s Quay, Llanberis, Llanidloes, Arberth / Narberth and Yr Eglwys Newydd, Caerdydd / Whitchurch, Cardiff. A total of 7,361 properties were surveyed.

Findings

• The proportion of properties with Welsh language names varied across localities, with over 60% of named properties surveyed in Abersoch, Llanberis and Llanidloes having Welsh language names. In Abersoch and Llanidloes, Welsh language names tended to be for non-alias named properties (139 instances and 94 instances respectively). In Llanberis, most of the Welsh language names (81 instances) were alias names.
• The majority (63.2%) of holiday accommodation properties listed on Booking.com have an English language name. This is higher than the 50.4% of English-named properties captured in the linguistic landscape survey.
• There is a prevalence of holiday lets in Abersoch, Y Fenni / Abergavenny and Arberth / Narberth compared to the other localities. Figures from these areas illustrate how tourism can have a different impact on the language of property names in different localities:
  • In Y Fenni / Abergavenny and Arberth / Narberth, a higher proportion of holiday lets listed on Booking.com have an English language name (78% and 83% respectively) than the English-named properties identified in the same area in the linguistic landscape survey (68.8% and 59.2% respectively).
  • In contrast, a higher proportion of the properties in Abersoch listed on Booking.com have Welsh language names (72.4%). This is higher than the Welsh-named properties (60.5%) and English-named properties (34%) captured in the linguistic landscape survey.
  • Holiday accommodation in Abersoch has almost four times more Welsh language (42 properties) than English language (11 properties) names.  
  • Similar to the findings of the digital house name survey, interviews in the seven localities revealed that motivations for naming or renaming a property included personal connections, desire for a Welsh language name, local geographic connections or historical connections.
  • There were strong, positive attitudes to the Welsh language among interviewees and these attitudes extended to Welsh language street and property names.
  • Interviewees tended to relate street and property names to broader perceptions that property name changes to English were driven by tourism and a concern, particularly in Llanberis, regarding online use of English language names for places in the landscape around Llanberis linked to outdoor activities. There was also a perception that business names in Welsh or in English were often chosen to appeal to tourists.
  • In Cei Connah / Connah’s Quay, Welsh property names tended to be associated with more rural areas outside of the town. In Yr Eglwys Newydd / Whitchurch, there was a perception that the migration of Welsh speakers to the area was leading to houses being given Welsh language names. In the more urban localities of Y Fenni / Abergavenny, Cei Connah / Connah’s Quay and Yr Eglwys Newydd / Whitchurch, interviewees noted the increasing prevalence of Welsh language street names and signage.
  • Positive attitudes to the Welsh language were also reflected in the perception that businesses were adopting more Welsh language names, because “Welsh is fashionable at the moment.”. 

A specific place-based research assessment of the formal property and business name changes over the past five years and to explore the motivations for changes

Data from AddressBase Premium (Ordnance Survey) was used to investigate changes to property names since 2009 in twenty-four localities across Wales. It showed that:

• most changes to property names occurred between 2009 and 2014 and did not tend to involve a change in the language of the property name
• where the change to a property name involved a change in language, it tended to involve a change from an English language property name to a Welsh language property name
• changes to residential property names tended to lead to more Welsh language names than changes to business property names; business names tended to involve changing an English language name to another English language name
• changes to property names in Gwynedd were even more likely to involve changing an English language property name to a Welsh language property name compared to the other localities that were researched

Understanding the threshold for Ordnance Survey (OS) and digital maps to change names appearing on official maps, and how the data is gathered to achieve this

Visual representation of place names on maps is considered a cartographic matter, that is not directly addressed in the OS Names Policy (2022) or Welsh Names Policy (2018).

• OS reports that it is guided primarily by local usage and custom. It makes enquiries and consults appropriate authorities to establish, with as much authority as possible, the most suitable name, form, and spelling for all places shown.
• It is not clear what the OS threshold is for a place name to be determined to be in ‘local usage and custom’ and therefore recorded on an OS map. OS reports being increasingly dependent on recording names that are written on public and other signage or names that are recorded by relevant authorities.
• The increasing prevalence of digital mapping products instead of hard-copy maps means that more data (in this case, place names) can be visually represented. This means that fewer instances occur where a decision is made by OS to use one place name rather than another.
• Digital mapping gives the OS and others a greater capability to record and visually represent place names in multiple languages thus further contributing to complicating the experience of place.

Thematic considerations in relation to place naming and place name changes in Wales

The broad themes identified in this research emphasise the complexity of place names and changing place names. This complexity becomes apparent in the tension between valuing place names of perceived significance and the ‘loss’ of these names through the adoption of new names that could in turn be considered significant. The complexity and tension result from a combination of historical, linguistic, social and other factors that shape people’s perceptions of the significance of place names.

Further research could help build a more detailed understanding of the extent, frequency and language of informal property and business naming and re-naming. Additional research could be carried out into informal name changes, particularly in relation to business names. Research specifically focussing on the relationship between place names (especially topographical names) coined by societies and companies engaged in tourism and outdoor pursuits and the normalising of those names in the local community and online could help address concerns that the use of Welsh topographical names is being undermined because of these activities.

Report authors: Osian Elias, Kathryn Jones and Iolo Jones IAITH: Welsh Centre for Language Planning

Views expressed in this report are those of the researchers and not necessarily those of the Welsh Government.

For further information please contact:

Cadw
Welsh Government
Cathays Park
Cardiff
CF10 3NQ

Email: cadw.research@gov.wales

Social research number: 45/2025
Digital ISBN: 978-1-83715-747-1