 To avoid confusion, there were plans to change Welwyn’s name to ‘Welwyn Minster’ in 1990 but this met with local resistance and the idea was abandoned.The name is derived from Old English "welig" meaning "willow", referring to the trees that nestle on the banks of the River Mimram as it flows through the village.The name itself is an evolution from "weligun", the dative form of the word, and so is more precisely translated as "at the willows", unlike nearby Willian which is likely to mean simply "the willows".