In the reign of Henry VIII surnames became hereditary amongst the Welsh gentry, and the custom spread slowly amongst commoners.
[2] Areas where England's influence was strong had abandoned patronymics earlier, as did town families and the wealthy.
The most common surnames in modern Wales result from adding an s to the end of the name, as in Jones, Roberts and Edwards.
Patronymic surnames with the short -s form are recorded in various parts of England dating back to the Middle Ages.
[4] It is not uncommon for five or more of the starting XV for the Wales national rugby union team to be named Jones.
The prevalence of names such as Jones, Williams and Thomas brought a need for further distinction and in the 19th century a trend started for double surnames, created by prefixing the name of a house, parish or the mother's surname, as in "Cynddylan Jones".