How is 'Lloyd' actually pronounced? (As in the surname Lloyd)

Since starting learning Welsh I’ve always wondered, as Lloyd is the only ‘English’ word I know that starts with two ‘L’ s…is it actually a Welsh name, or is it SUPPOSED to be pronounced as ‘loid’?!

Originally it would have been Llwyd - grey. And pronounced “ll-oi-d”

Nowadays you’ll only hear Lloyd pronounced with a single L.

Yes, at work we’ve got 3 with the surname Llwyd and 3 with the surname Lloyd (and confusingly enough, one Llwyd and one Lloyd both have the first name Rhys!). All are 1st language Welsh speakers but only the Llwyd’s pronounce the Ll the Welsh way. The Lloyd’s all pronounce theirs the English way.

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Llama? :wink:

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Oh yes, and llama! That well-known native animal of Cymru.

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The one l lama, he’s a priest.
The two l llama, he’s a beast.
And I bet you a silk pyjama,
there isn’t any three l lllama.

Ogden Nash

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I idly wondered what my old OED had that started with ll-… Llama (check); llano (‘a plain in South America’); lliana (‘erroneous spelling of liana’); and ‘lloydia’ – ‘a small alpine bulbous plant […] also called the Snowdon lily’, apparently named after Edward Lhwyd, Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum c.1700, who discovered the British species of the genus on Snowdon :slight_smile:

Oh, and apart from some proper nouns (other Lloyds), that’s it!

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Indeed - the very rare Snowdon lily is the county flower of Arfon :slight_smile:

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That’s the Edward Llwyd that the Cymdeithas Edward Llwyd is names after. Polymath and Cymro.

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Another name you see in Swansea is Dillwyn (a famous family with buildings and pubs named after them like the Mary Dillwyn etc) - it sounds quite nice with a properly pronounced “ll”, but I’ve never actually heard anyone say it like that.

Since we’re on this topic. In the 90s my friends and I were big fans of Fantagraphics comics and Dan Clowes was one of my favorite authors.
We used to wonder how to pronounce the crazy name of this character. Now I’d know! :wink:
p.s. arbitrarily, the Welsh way of course!

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Yeah, I cant say I’ve ever heard the second ll being pronounced in Llewellyn.
Here’s my contribution: Boy/mans name Allan :slight_smile:
A young student I know, kept asking why Allan’s name was written over doorways.

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There is a reporter on the BBC who comes on Radio 4 sometimes and I always thought his name was “Rory Cethlan Jones” because that’s what I was hearing. He did a piece on BBC1 television the other day and his name flashed up on the screen as Rory Cellan-Jones. So the BBC has been pronouncing ‘Cellan’ more or less correctly all along! Hurrah!

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Well spotted. I always thought it was Cethlan