Welsh names policy

We will:

• Support the Welsh Language Act 1993 and the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011, both of which have the aim of promoting and facilitating the use of the Welsh language throughout Wales.
• Endeavour to achieve consistency in the depiction of names within each mapping series and across its range of products.
• Recognise all 29 letters of the Welsh alphabet and the accented characters that go with them but reserve the right to record digraph characters as two separate letters and characters within the OS National Geographic Database (OS NGD).
• Ensure that common usage and evidence provided by historical form are both considered when defining the spelling and/or depiction of a name.
• Seek to gain proper authority, through a broadly accepted standards-setting body, for the depiction of Welsh names, but in the case of disagreement retain final editorship to ensure cartographically acceptable mapping and products.
• Gain consensus on the accepted form and spelling of Welsh names through the Welsh Language Commissioner.

We will not:

• Be the Authority for Welsh names; or
• Convert to Welsh any existing anglicised names on the authority of any one individual.
• Accept any one individual’s interpretation when considering Welsh names where there may be a conflict of spelling or version.

Ordnance Survey works closely with the Welsh Language Commissioner in determining names in the built environment. The Welsh Language Commissioner has compiled a list of all Welsh place names (standardised Welsh place names list).

Welsh names policy in English (PDF)

Welsh names policy in Welsh (PDF)