Llan place name element

In Wales, over 630 places have names beginning with Llan. In Welsh, the original meaning of Llan is "an enclosed piece of land". Llan later evolved to mean the parish surrounding a church.

Many places beginning with Llan have some connection to a saint, usually of the Celtic church. The name would then be 'Llan' followed by the name of the saint. Llandewi is one example of this.

However a number of places beginning with Llan had their names evolved from other Welsh words like 'Glan' (Welsh for river bank) or 'Nant'. Llanbradach and Llancaeach are examples.

It is believed that the "llan" epithet originated not just for an enclosure, but more importantly the 'tribal enclosure' and possibly just 'tribe'; when the original peoples arriving after the last Ice Age, were nomadic. With the coming of the first Celtic Christian missionaries, these early Christians sought to place their centres of worship in an area of some security. With the conversions of the tribes, this obviously fell within the tribal compound, the llan. With the disintegration of the tribal boundaries, all that remained of most of these enclosures was the church, or at best a walled village or town. The original meaning of 'llan' with its tribal connotations disappeared. That is except for Scotland where the 'llan', or its more easily pronounced sibling 'clan', remains.

Examples of Llan place names

Places named after saints

*Llanbadarn Fawr, Saint Padarn
*Llanbadrig, Saint Patrick
*Llanbedr, Saint Peter
*Llanberis, Saint Peris
*Llanddarog, Saint Twrog
* Llanddeusant, Anglesey, two saints: Saint Marcellus and Saint Marcellina
* Llanddeusant, Carmarthenshire, two saints: Saint David and Saint Teilo
*Llandeilo, Saint Teilo
*Llandewi, Saint David
*Llandudno, Saint Tudno
*Llandybie, Saint Tybie
*Llanedi, Saint Edith
*Llanegwad, Saint Egwad
*Llanelli, Saint Elli
*Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, Saint Mary and Saint Tysilio
*Llanfoist, Saint Fwyst
*Llangadog, Saint Cadoc
*Llangain, Saint Cain
*Llangathen, Saint Cathan
*Llangeler, Saint Celert
*Llangelynnin, Saint Celynin
*Llangennech, Saint Cennych
*Llangennith, Saint Cenydd
*Llangollen, Saint Collen
*Llangolman, Saint Colman
*Llangunnor, Saint Cynnwr
*Llangyfelach, Saint Cyfelach
*Llangyndeyrn, Saint Cyndeyrn
*Llangynllo, Saint Cynllo
*Llangynog, Saint Cynog
*Llanharan, Saint Aaron
*Llanidloes, Saint Idloes
*Llanilar, Saint Hilary
*Llanllawddog, Saint Llawddog
*Llanmadoc, Saint Madoc
*Llanmartin, Saint Martin
*Llanishen "(Llanisien)", Saint Isan
*Llannon, Saint Non
*Llanpumsaint, five saints: Gwyn, Gwynno, Gwynoro, Ceithio and Celynin
*Llansadwrn, Saint Sadwrn
*Llanrhidian, Saint Rhidian
*Llansadwrn, Saint Sadwrn
*Llansamlet, Saint Samlet
*Llansawel, Saint Sawell
*Llanstephan, Saint Stephen
*Llanwrda, Saint Cwrda

Place names with religious connections other than a saint

*Llandaff, named after the River Taff [http://www.britannia.com/celtic/wales/sacred/llandaff.html]
* Llangefni, named after the River Cefni

Place names without a religious connection

*Llanboidy, name evolved from "Nantbeudy"
*Llancarfan, name evolved from "Nantcarfan"
*Llandarcy, named after William Knox D'Arcy
*Llanmorlais, name evolved from "Glan Morlais"

ee also

*Welsh placenames

References

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/whatsinaname/sites/elements/pages/llan.shtml BBC Wales: What's in a name: Llan]
* [http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/someplacenames/page5.html Cynon Valley]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/whatsinaname/sites/themes/pages/religion.shtml BBC Wales - What's in a Name: Religion and creed in place names]