House Names

Some councils now charge a fee for a house name change

Here in Carmarthenshire the local authority recently introduced a charge of £25 for those householders wanting to name a new property or change the name of an existing one. They say that the charge has been introduced to help cover the administration costs involved in informing the emergency services, parish councils and the Royal Mail.

It’s a fact that more homes in rural areas like Carmarthenshire are likely to have a name rather than a number. But in Wales an additional factor has to be considered – the language, the concern is that some properties are losing their traditional Welsh names in favour of English ones.

It’s to be hoped that newcomers to a Welsh speaking area keep the old traditional names and in doing so maintain its heritage. These names are usually quite descriptive of the property or place where it is situated and there’s always a friendly local willing to give a translation. One of my particular favourite house names is Troedrhiwfallen which translates as "The foot of apple tree hill" – eat your heart out Dunroamin!