Meredith (name)

Infobox Given Name Revised
name = Meredith


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pronunciation= mair'-e-dith
gender = Male or Female
meaning = "Great lord"
region =
origin = Welsh
related names =
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:"For people named Meredith and other uses of the name, see Meredith"

Meredith (: mɛr' ɛd ɪθ "or Welsh" mɛr ɛd' ɪθ) is an uncommon first name, and a surname common in parts of Wales. It comes from the Welsh "Maredudd", meaning "great lord." It was more commonly a male name prior to the 20th century, but the genders for the name switched and female usage has been the more popular of late.

It is one of the older surviving Welsh personal names, "Maredudd" and "Meredydd" being early variants of today's more familiar anglicized form (see for instance Madog ap Maredudd). The final element, "iudd", means "lord"; as can be found in the older variants of Gruffudd (anglicized as 'Griffin' or 'Griffith') - however, the meaning of the initial element is open to conjecture though some Welsh scholars have translated it as "great" or "splendid". ["Welsh Surnames" by T.J. Morgan and Prys Morgan (University of Wales Press, 1985, ISBN 0-7083-0936-4)]

The name is commonly misinterpreted to mean "guardian or protector from the sea". This is a misapprehension (based on misinterpreting the name as 'mer' (Latin, sea) + Edith (Old English, rich battle, but confused with Edward, rich guardian)) especially as the name is more commonly found in the upland non-coastal regions of Mid-Wales [ [http://www.spatial-literacy.org/UCLnames/Map.aspx?name=MEREDITH&year=1881&altyear=1998&country=GB&type=name www.spatial-literacy.org] ] and also if translated back into Welsh, "guardian..." would bear no resemblance to Meredith in any form.

The original gender of the name has become confused increasingly since the mid-20th century as the surname has given rise to the name Meredith being used for girls, originally in the United States (this usage is first recorded at the end of the 19th century), but now also in the UK, and even in Wales.

In modern Wales and the rest of the United Kingdom, the name survives predominantly as a surname due to the patronymic heritage of the families of Welsh migrants from Wales to England pre- and post-Industrial Revolution.

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