Meredith
also Maredudd, ap Maredudd
Son of the great lord — princely surname of Deheubarth.
CoreHistoric reach
The seat of Meredith
Seat vacantChief
No chief yet. The seat awaits its first claimant — be the first to stake your name to Meredith.
Current mission
No mission proclaimed. The chief, once seated, sets the clan’s public focus — a campaign, a contest, a piece of restoration, a year of remembrance.
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Stake your name →What does the Meredith name mean?
From ap Maredudd — son of Maredudd, a personal name probably derived from Old Welsh elements meaning 'great-lord' or 'splendid lord'. Maredudd was the personal name of two princes of Deheubarth — Maredudd ab Owain (d. 999), king of all Wales briefly in the 990s, and Rhys ap Maredudd (d. 1292), the last sovereign prince of Deheubarth. The patronymic ap Maredudd compressed into Meredith under Tudor naming policy, with the southern Welsh counties remaining the surname's heartland.
The history of Meredith
Maredudd ab Owain (d. 999) was, briefly, the closest thing to a king of all Wales between Hywel Dda and Llywelyn the Great — uniting Deheubarth (south-west Wales), Gwynedd (north-west) and Powys (centre) under his rule for a few years in the 990s before his death. Rhys ap Maredudd, his descendant, raised the last serious revolt of native Deheubarth against Edward I in 1287; he was captured and executed at York in 1292, ending the Maredudd princely line. The patronymic ap Maredudd survived in commoner branches of the family across Powys and Ceredigion through the Tudor period.
George Meredith (1828–1909), the Portsmouth-born novelist of The Egoist and Diana of the Crossways, was descended from a Welsh-Powys Meredith line; his grandfather had emigrated to the south coast of England in the late 18th century. Billy Meredith (1874–1958), the Chirk-born winger nicknamed 'the Welsh Wizard', won league titles with both Manchester United and Manchester City and is among the foundational figures of British professional football. Burgess Meredith (1907–1997), the American actor (Of Mice and Men, the Penguin in the 1960s Batman, the Oscar-nominated Mickey Goldmill in Rocky), was Welsh-Meredith on his paternal side.
Notable bearers of the Meredith name
- George Meredith (1828–1909) — novelist (The Egoist, Diana of the Crossways)
- Billy Meredith (1874–1958) — Manchester United and Manchester City footballer, 'the Welsh Wizard'
- Burgess Meredith (1907–1997) — American actor (Rocky, Batman)
Frequently asked
What does the surname Meredith mean?
Where does the Meredith family come from?
Who are some famous Merediths?
Is Maredudd the same family as Meredith?
Neighbouring clans
- EvansSon of John, by the Welsh road — the cousin name of Jones.
- LewisLlywelyn anglicised — a princely name carried into common use across the Marches and the south.
- OwenThe princely name — Owain in Welsh, the surname of the last revolt and the first Tudor.
- LloydLlwyd — the grey one — the great descriptive surname of the central Welsh ridge.