Llewellyn

also Llewelyn, Llywelyn, ap Llywelyn

Son of Llywelyn, the surname of the last Prince of Wales.

Origin: Gwynedd, Wales
Famous bearer: Richard Llewellyn (1906–1983), novelist, How Green Was My Valley
Register: Welsh family

Territory of Llewellyn

CoreHistoric reach

The seat of Llewellyn

Seat vacant

Chief

No one leads the Llewellyn community yet. When the movement opens, you can stand for its leadership, or help elect whoever does.

Current mission

No shared goal set yet. Once Llewellyn has leadership, it sets the public focus: a restoration, a gathering, a real-world project that helps its own.

The Llewellyn clan is being rebuilt. Join the waiting list for the movement today, and you help decide who leads it and what it does.

Help rebuild the Llewellyn clan →

What does the Llewellyn name mean?

From ap Llywelyn, son of Llywelyn (also rendered Llewelyn or Llewellyn). The personal name Llywelyn was the most prestigious in mediaeval Welsh princely use, borne by Llywelyn the Great (Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, 1173–1240), Prince of Gwynedd and effective ruler of native Wales, and by his grandson Llywelyn ap Gruffydd (1223–1282), 'Llywelyn the Last', the only Welsh prince formally recognised by the English crown as Prince of Wales. The compressed surname Llewellyn carries the princely name forward in the modern surname pool.

The history of Llewellyn

Llywelyn ap Gruffydd was killed at Cilmeri near Builth Wells on 11 December 1282, an ambush during the second Welsh war of Edward I. His head was sent to London and displayed at the Tower of London; the Welsh sovereignty he represented ended with him, and the Statute of Rhuddlan of 1284 formally annexed Gwynedd to the English crown. The surname Llewellyn descends partly from sub-princely lines and minor gentry who carried the patronymic ap Llywelyn forward, particularly in Gwynedd, Anglesey and the Vale of Conwy, the heart of the old kingdom.

Richard Llewellyn (Richard Dafydd Vivian Llewellyn Lloyd, 1906–1983), the novelist of How Green Was My Valley (1939), is the most internationally famous bearer, the novel sold three million copies in its first decade and the John Ford 1941 film adaptation won five Academy Awards including Best Picture. Karl Llewellyn (1893–1962), the American jurist who drafted the Uniform Commercial Code, was descended from a Pennsylvania-Welsh line. Roddy Llewellyn (b. 1947), the landscape designer, brought the surname into 1970s British public life.

Champions of the Llewellyn name

The bearers whose lives are inseparable from this surname. Each has its own page — biography, achievements, geography, connection to the family.

Richard Llewellyn
The author of How Green Was My Valley, the south Wales coal-valley novel that became the foundational popular fiction of Welsh national identity, sold seven million copies, and won the 1942 Best Picture Oscar in John Ford's adaptation.

Step Into History

Walk the streets and seats the Llewellyn name knew — a photoreal walk through time, on foot.

Step Into History · New

Walk Caernarfon in 1320Enter →

Edward I's walled bastide and mighty castle in North Wales, a generation after the conquest — the banded towers still rising.

Step Into History · New

Walk Harlech Castle in 1404Enter →

Owain Glyndŵr's mountain fortress and court at the high tide of Welsh independence, the English siege lines gathering below.

Notable bearers of the Llewellyn name

Richard Llewellyn (1906–1983), novelist, How Green Was My Valley
Karl Llewellyn (1893–1962), American jurist, drafter of the Uniform Commercial Code
Roddy Llewellyn (b. 1947), landscape designer

Frequently asked

What does the surname Llewellyn mean?

Where does the Llewellyn family come from?

The Llewellyn family is rooted in Gwynedd, in Wales. Within that, the name was particularly concentrated in Eryri & Llŷn and Ynys Môn. The atlas page for the name records the historical territory it has held over the centuries.

Where did the Llewellyn family historically hold territory?

At its greatest historical extent, the Llewellyn name has been concentrated in Aberconwy, Dyffryn Clwyd, Powys and Ceredigion. The atlas page distinguishes the core territory of the name from this wider historical reach with hatched silhouettes on the map.

Is Llewellyn a Wales surname?

Yes, Llewellyn is a Wales surname. Its editorial home in this atlas is Wales, where the historical territory and family record of the name are concentrated.

How old is the Llewellyn surname?

Llywelyn ap Gruffydd was killed at Cilmeri near Builth Wells on 11 December 1282, an ambush during the second Welsh war of Edward I. European hereditary surnames crystallised broadly between the 12th and 14th centuries, and the Llewellyn name took its modern form within that long settlement.

What is the Llewellyn family known for?

Son of Llywelyn, the surname of the last Prince of Wales. Llywelyn ap Gruffydd was killed at Cilmeri near Builth Wells on 11 December 1282, an ambush during the second Welsh war of Edward I.

Who is the most famous Llewellyn?

The best-known bearer of the Llewellyn name is Richard Llewellyn (1906–1983), novelist, How Green Was My Valley. Other prominent figures of the family include Karl Llewellyn (1893–1962), American jurist, drafter of the Uniform Commercial Code and Roddy Llewellyn (b. 1947), landscape designer.

Who are some famous Llewellyns?

Notable bearers of the Llewellyn name include Richard Llewellyn (1906–1983), novelist, How Green Was My Valley, Karl Llewellyn (1893–1962), American jurist, drafter of the Uniform Commercial Code and Roddy Llewellyn (b. 1947), landscape designer. Each is profiled on the family page, with cross-links to the geography, stories, and historical events tied to their life.

Is Llewelyn the same family as Llewellyn?

Yes. Llewelyn is a historical spelling variant of the Llewellyn name. The two share the same lineage and family affiliation; different parishes, clerks and migration registrars recorded the same name in slightly different forms, and the variant spellings sit on the same family tree.

Is Llywelyn the same family as Llewellyn?

Yes. Llywelyn is a historical spelling variant of the Llewellyn name. The two share the same lineage and family affiliation; different parishes, clerks and migration registrars recorded the same name in slightly different forms, and the variant spellings sit on the same family tree.

Is ap Llywelyn the same family as Llewellyn?

Yes. ap Llywelyn is a historical spelling variant of the Llewellyn name. The two share the same lineage and family affiliation; different parishes, clerks and migration registrars recorded the same name in slightly different forms, and the variant spellings sit on the same family tree.

Where is the Llewellyn surname found today?

Wales is the primary historical home of the Llewellyn surname. In the modern era, the name is also borne across the wider diaspora, particularly in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, where families carry the line of descent from the same Wales origin recorded on this page.

What does the Clan Rising page for the Llewellyn family cover?

The Clan Rising page for the Llewellyn family covers the meaning of the surname, the historical geography of the name, famous bearers of the name and the seat of the head of the family. Each section is linked to the underlying atlas of Wales so the name can be read in the geography that shaped it.

Who is the head of the Llewellyn family today?

The seat for the head of the Llewellyn family is currently vacant on this register. Clan Rising is rebuilding the chief and family structure for the modern era, and the family page allows readers to claim the seat or pledge to the name.