Caradog

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A traditional masculine first name of Welsh origin, borne by several figures from Welsh history and legend
2. A Welsh male given name, derived from an old Celtic root and used in Wales for centuries
3. The name of a Welsh man, a variant spelling of Caradoc that appears in medieval Welsh records and literature

Etymology: Caradog is the Welsh form of a name that has travelled far beyond Wales. The most famous bearer was Caratacus, the British chieftain who resisted the Roman conquest in the first century AD, and the name seems to have passed through several languages and centuries before settling into the English surnames it now underlies. Its relatives include Caradoc, Cedric, Craddock, Cradock, McCarthy and McCarty, all of which descend from the same Celtic personal name. The surprising part is that a single name can produce a surname as Irish as McCarthy and as English as Cradock. Each variant reflects a different path of borrowing, spelling and anglicisation, so people who share these surnames may be related through a common ancestral name rather than through any shared place of origin.