Senedd petition calls for Cymru to be used as Wales’ only name
Nation Cymru staff
A petition has launched calling to ‘use Cymru not Wales as the official name for our nation, along with one name only for our place names’ to ‘reset, rebrand and renew our nation’.
Running for six months, until 30 December 2026, the petition follows a previous one which sought to ‘abolish’ the name Wales in favour of its Welsh name, Cymru, which crossed the 10,000 signature mark but was overlooked by the Welsh Labour Government.
Signatories may, however, feel there is much more sympathy for the cause with the new Plaid Cymru Government in power.
The newest petition has bigger aims than the one focused on only the name of the country, calling for one name for Wales, as well as one name for its cities, towns and villages, with notable exceptions for areas where distinct names in other languages also have important and separate historical context.
Efforts are already underway in Wales to preserve important place names such as lakes, which are being lost or sidelined in favour of newer English names.
Notably, Türkiye officially dropped its former title, Turkey, at the United Nations in 2022, after it agreed to a formal request from Ankara.
Several international bodies have been asked to make the name change as part of a rebranding campaign launched by the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan who in December 2022 said, much in line with the backers of the Welsh petition: “Türkiye is the best representation and expression of the Turkish people’s culture, civilization, and values.”
Petition
The petition states: “Wales is not the name of our nation – meaning ‘foreigners’ it was imposed on us, and poorly reflects who we as a people are.
“With an outward looking Government, now is the time for us to assert our own intention for how we are seen across the world, in the language of our nation using the name chosen by our nation.
“Now is also the time for us to stop using two names for places with deeper, older Welsh names. We can sensibly keep some names with other dual and important historical meanings.
“Wales’ position on the international stage is minute in comparison to Scotland and Ireland, and with a new outward looking Government in power we have an opportunity to change that.
“Türkiye and Czechia are examples of countries that have undergone name changes, and we’ve also seen the success of our national parks using Welsh names and gaining wider international attention.
“A previous petition received over 10,000 signatures and was ignored by the Labour Government. The petition, created by Arfon Jones said: ‘Wales is a name imposed on Cymru and is essentially not a Welsh word at all. The world knows about Wales because of its English connection since 1282.
“‘Hardly anyone has heard of Cymru or realises that we have our own unique language and culture which is totally different from the other countries within the United Kingdom.’
“We have an opportunity to reset, rebrand and renew our nation and its cities, towns and villages – this would be a confident, hopeful start.”
“A normal thing”
Welsh independence campaigner Gwern Gwynfil said previously: “There is nothing unusual about nations deciding on their own official names. Türkiye and Czechia are recent examples of this. In no way does this force others to change the names they use but it is a clear and confident expression of identity in a modern international context.
“More broadly it reflects a wider pride and recognition of authentic cultural values, from Uluru to Bannau Brycheiniog, this is also a global phenomenon.
“This is a normal thing for nations to do. Perhaps the more relevant issue here is why are some people so viscerally against the idea? What are they afraid of?”
View the Senedd petition calling to ‘use Cymru not Wales as the official name for our nation, and one name only for our place names’ here.
Support our Nation today
For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales.
Definitely, we don’t translate our own names, so why do we any other names.
I have been using ‘Cymru’ for a long time. All our towns, villages and cities need to be called by their correct names and sod the ‘foreigners’ across the fringe who cannot pronounce them. They can manage quite well with placenames in other countries. They just have no respect.
One of my university lecturers told a story about when he was at a conference in England and posted some documents back to a colleague in Aberystwyth. They never arrived. After several weeks the letter finally got to Aberystwyth, having travelled via Cyprus. He had made the mistake of writing ‘Cymru’ as the final line of the address.
Given the outrage at us daring to use bannau brycheiniog, just imagine the pearl clutching from certain quarters on this one!
Think of it this way: every time you use the words “Welsh” and “Wales,” you are effectively saying, “I am a slave living in a foreign land.” That is what “Welsh” and “Wales” translate to in the Germanic Saxon context. In essence, the term was used is a racial slur. Would it not be better to call ourselves “Cymry” (or “Cymraes”), meaning “fellow compatriots,” and our country “Cymru,” the land of fellow compatriots, in our own beautiful native language? There are precedents for this around the world where countries named during empire reverted to their native names. I’m all for… Read more »