Lloyd (name)

Lloyd is a name originating with the Welsh adjective llwyd, most often understood as meaning "grey" but with other meanings as well. The name can be used both as a personal name and as a surname. The name has many variations and a few derivations, mainly as a result of the difficulty in representing the initial double-L for non-Welsh speakers and the translation of the Welsh diphthong ŵy. Lloyd is the most common form of the name encountered in the modern era, with the Welsh spelling Llwyd increasingly common in recent times.

The vast majority of Wales continued to use the patronymic system well into the early modern period, and the families that used family surnames passed on from one generation to the next remained exceptional. However, the name Lloyd/Llwyd and certain other Welsh adjectives such as goch ("red", evolving into the Welsh surname Gough) became "fixed epithet" passed on through the generations and functioned as family surnames as early as the 14th century.

The name Lloyd/Llwyd originates with the Welsh adjective llwyd, usually understood to mean "grey" and can be distinguished as a "fixed epithet" passed on from one generation to the next, as early as the 14th century. However, the word llwyd also has other meanings, especially if buttressed with other nouns or adjectives, such as penllwyd (brown-headed) and llwydwyn (grey-white). In addition to "grey" as most commonly understood, llwyd also includes shades of brown, according to T.J. Morgan and Prys Morgan.

…dŵr llwyd refers to the brown waters of a river in flood, papur llwyd refers to the old-fashioned wrapping paper or "brown-paper". It is very likely that when used of younger men llwyd referred to the mouse-coloured hair. But llwyd could of course be used to also refer to the grey hair of old age, and was occasionally found in compounds with gwyn (white).

By the time that the adjective llwyd became a fixed epithet and then a family name, llwyd had more or less lost its original meaning of "grey". T. J. and Prys Morgan note

…in general it is likely the adjective llwyd referred to some sort of brown hair when associated with a personal name. HBr 495 is wrong in stating "the third son was called David Llwyd, I presume, from his grey hair in early life". By the time the pedigree in question had evolved, the adjective had long ceased to have the literal meaning "grey".

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