Anwen


Anwen is a Welsh feminine name. Notable bearers of the name are:
It is not a very common first name, though neither is it rare. However, Anwen is popularly confused with "Arwen", a name created by the author and linguist J. R. R. Tolkien for use in his novel The Lord of the Rings, and modelled on the etymology and sound patterns of Welsh.
The origins of Anwen are somewhat unclear, though the -wen ending is known to represent the mutated form of the adjective gwen, which is the feminine form of gwyn, used to mean "white" as well as "blessed". There are many other dithematic -wen names in use in Wales today, some examples being:
The -wen suffix used in the coining of many modern Welsh girls' names was originally appended to the names of female saints in the sense of "holy" or "blessed", roughly equivalent to English "Saint". Ceinwen is an alternative name for the Welsh saint Cain, for example; cf. also Dwynwen "Saint Dwyn" and Meirwen "Saint Mary ".
The initial syllable is sometimes identified as an intensive prefix, hence "very" or "much", and the name in full is commonly interpreted to mean "very beautiful". It could also be inspired by the Welsh term of endearment annwyl, which is used to mean "dear, beloved", or the common name Ann.