Ceridwen / Ceridwyn

Meaning: (Blessed Song, Blessed Poetry, White, Fair, Fair Poetry, From “Cerdd Gwen”. Celtic Mythology: Name of the Goddess of Poetic Inspiration. Also supposedly the name of the mother of the legendary Sixth Century Welsh Hero Taliesin.

In Welsh Medieval legend, Ceridwen was an enchantress. She is the mother of a hideous son, Morfran, and a beautiful daughter, Creirwy. Her husband was Tegid Foel, and they lived near Bala Lake (Llyn Tegid) in North Wales. Medieval Welsh Poetry refers to her as possessing the cauldron of Poetic Inspiration (Awen) and the Tale of Taliesin recounts her swallowing her servant Gwion Bach who is then reborn through her as the poet Taliesin. In 19^th Century literature and etymology the name Ket, Ked and variants were assumed to relate to the Goddess Ceridwen. The earliest documented permutation of the name KERDWIN is Cyrridven, which occurs in the Black Book of Carmarthen. It was rarely used in the medieval period, but saw a revival in the 19^th Century.)

Origin: (Welsh, Welsh Mythology, Celtic Mythology)

Pronunciation: (ke-RID-wen, Keh-RIHDWehN)

Gender: Female

I was researching the Welsh name Ceri *see on list of posts* and this name came up. So you could either use Ceri as a full name or have a character named either Ceridwen or Ceridwyn (my favorite spelling) and be nicknamed Ceri. I love the meanings and the mythology is interesting. I think it is a beautiful name with a wonderful look. I could see the pronunciation tripping up a reader but if maybe there is a pronunciation guide with the book people would be fine.