common ancestor. Present day The stock of Welsh surnames is small. This is partly attributable to the reduction in the variety of baptismal names after the Protestant Reformation. Typical Welsh surnames – Evans, Jones, Williams, Davies, Thomas – were found in the top ten surnames recorded in England and Wales in 2000. An analysis of the geography of Welsh surnames commissioned by the Welsh Government found that 718,000 people in Wales, nearly 35% of the Welsh population, have a family name of Welsh origin, compared with 5.3% in the rest of the United Kingdom, 4.7% in New Zealand, 4.1% in Australia, and 3.8% in the United States. A total of 16.3 million people in the countries studied had a name of Welsh origin. It is not uncommon for five or more of the starting fifteen for the Wales international rugby team to be named Jones. For instance, all of the following played in the same period and are not immediately related to any of the others: Adam R. Jones, Dafydd Jones, Ryan Jones, Stephen Jones, Mark Jones, Adam M. Jones, Alun Wyn Jones, and Duncan Jones. The prevalence of names such as Jones, Williams and Thomas brought a need for further distinction and in the 19th century a trend started for double surnames, created by prefixing the name of a house, parish or the mother's surname, as in "Cynddylan Jones". A hyphen was sometimes later introduced, for example "Griffith-Jones". Revival of patronymics Although the vast majority of Welsh surnames are family names, there has been a limited revival of patronymics in modern Wales, especially among Welsh speakers. Alternatively, given surnames are used, as in the case of the folk singer and political figure Dafydd Iwan (Dafydd Iwan Jones), opera singer Bryn Terfel (Bryn Terfel Jones), classical singer Shân Cothi, and the late actress Myfanwy Talog. See also Celtic onomastics Irish name Patronymic#Welsh and Cornish Scottish Gaelic personal naming system Welsh toponymy References External links The meaning behind Welsh names Welsh patronymic naming system Late Sixteenth Century Welsh Names Article on the relevance of surnames in genealogy (PDF File) Welsh-Border Surnames from 'ab Edmond' Article by genealogist Cat Whiteaway on tracing your Welsh ancestors Welsh culture History of Wales Surname